Each morning, a small ritual of language greets those who seek it: the New York Times Strands puzzle, arriving on December 23rd with winter on its mind. Today's grid hides seven words for cold and a spangram — NOTSOHOT — that speaks not of weather but of illness, the kind of phrase that unlocks the whole board once found. In a game without failure, without clocks, without penalty, the only stakes are the quiet satisfaction of seeing hidden order emerge from apparent chaos.
NYT Strands Hints and Answers for December 23: 'Br-r-r-r-r!'
Unlike Wordle or Connections, you cannot lose.
Mark
So the spangram today is NOTSOHOT—that's a phrase someone says when they're sick, right?
Mimi
Exactly. It's what you'd tell someone if they asked how you were feeling and you wanted to convey that you weren't well. Three words, very colloquial.
Mark
And then all seven theme words are just... cold?
Mimi
All variations on the same idea. CHILLY, POLAR, COLD, GLACIAL, FREEZING, FRIGID, COOL. They're arranged around the board in specific spots, but they're all describing temperature or coldness in different registers.
Mark
Why does the spangram matter so much?
Mimi
Because it usually unlocks the pattern. Once you see NOTSOHOT spanning the board, you realize the puzzle is about winter and cold. Then the other words fall into place more easily. It's the key that opens the door.
Mark
What if you get completely stuck?
Mimi
You can submit non-theme words you spot—any valid word four letters or longer—and that counts toward a hint. Three of those, and you can ask the game to highlight one theme word's letters for you. But you still have to connect them correctly.
Mark
So you can't actually fail?
Mimi
No. There's no time limit, no guess limit. You just keep going until you solve it. The game is designed to be solvable, not punishing.
The Pulse
- The puzzle announces itself with a shiver — its title 'Br-r-r-r-r!' signals that cold is the organizing principle, and solvers must find seven synonyms for low temperature hidden across the grid.
- The real tension lies in the spangram NOTSOHOT, a three-word phrase about illness that spans the entire board and must be found before the puzzle's full architecture becomes clear.
- Unlike its NYT siblings Wordle and Connections, Strands offers a merciful escape hatch: submit any valid non-theme word of four letters or more, do it three times, and a hint lights the way.
- Seven theme words — CHILLY, POLAR, COLD, GLACIAL, FREEZING, FRIGID, and COOL — are scattered across the grid, each claimable in blue once correctly traced in any direction.
- The puzzle resolves into a shareable card of colored dots, a quiet personal record of how the solution unfolded, meant to be compared with others who walked the same frozen grid.
Each morning, a small ritual of language greets those who seek it: the New York Times Strands puzzle, arriving on December 23rd with winter on its mind. Today's grid hides seven words for cold and a spangram — NOTSOHOT — that speaks not of weather but of illness, the kind of phrase that unlocks the whole board once found. In a game without failure, without clocks, without penalty, the only stakes are the quiet satisfaction of seeing hidden order emerge from apparent chaos.
The New York Times Strands puzzle for December 23, 2025 arrives dressed for winter, its title a chattering sound effect — 'Br-r-r-r-r!' — that tells solvers exactly where to aim their attention. The goal, as always, is to find theme words hidden within a letter grid and to locate the spangram, a longer answer that stretches across the entire board and captures the puzzle's central idea.
Today's spangram is NOTSOHOT, a three-word phrase that describes the feeling of being unwell — a clever pivot from the winter theme into something more human. Once found, it tends to open the rest of the puzzle up. The seven theme words surrounding it are all variations on cold: CHILLY in the upper left, POLAR below it, COLD following in sequence, GLACIAL anchoring the bottom left, FREEZING in the upper right, FRIGID at the bottom right, and COOL completing the set.
What distinguishes Strands from other daily word games is its generosity. There is no losing, no limit on guesses, no countdown. If a solver gets stuck, the game offers a structured way forward: find three valid words outside the theme, and a hint becomes available — one that highlights the letters of a theme word, though the correct path through them still must be traced. Words in the grid can run in any direction, each letter used only once, and correct theme words glow blue while the spangram turns yellow.
When the last word is found, the puzzle closes with a shareable card — dots of blue and yellow marking the solving journey, lightbulbs noting any hints used. It is a small, personal record of how order was found in a grid of apparent randomness, meant to be compared with others who played the same puzzle on the same winter morning.
The New York Times Strands puzzle for Tuesday, December 23, 2025 arrives with a winter theme announced by its title: "Br-r-r-r-r!" The challenge, as always, is to find hidden words within a grid of letters that connect to that theme, then locate the spangram—a longer word that spans the entire board and crystallizes the puzzle's central idea.
Today's spangram is NOTSOHOT, a three-word phrase that captures how someone might describe their condition when illness strikes. It's the kind of answer that, once found, tends to unlock the rest of the puzzle. The spangram runs across the board, flanking the other words you'll need to discover.
The seven theme words all describe variations of cold. CHILLY sits in the upper left corner. POLAR occupies the space directly below it. COLD follows in turn. GLACIAL anchors the bottom left. FREEZING appears in the upper right. FRIGID ends in the bottom right corner. And COOL completes the set, fitting somewhere among the others. Each word is a synonym or near-synonym for low temperature, the kind of vocabulary you'd use to describe a winter day or, metaphorically, a person's demeanor.
Strands differs from other word games in its structure and its mercy. Unlike Wordle or Connections, you cannot lose. There is no limit to your guesses, no ticking clock. If you get stuck, the game offers a path forward: submit any valid four-letter word or longer that isn't part of the theme, and you'll earn credit toward a hint. Submit three such words, and the hint button activates. Click it, and the letters of one theme word will be highlighted for you—though you'll still need to connect them in the correct sequence.
The board itself is a crossword-word search hybrid. Words can travel in any direction: horizontally, vertically, diagonally, up, down, left, right. Each letter is used only once. There is only one correct solution, and when you find a theme word, it highlights in blue. The spangram, when discovered, glows yellow.
Once you've identified all the theme words and the spangram, the puzzle is complete. The game then generates a shareable card showing your performance: blue dots for each theme word you found, a yellow dot marking when you solved the spangram, and lightbulb icons for any hints you needed along the way. It's a record of your solving path, a small badge of accomplishment you can share with others who play the same daily puzzle.
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