NYT Strands tips, answers for December 9

If you’re reading this, you want a little help playing Strands, i New York Times‘ is an advanced word search game.

Strands requires the player to put a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made of connected letters – up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of the answer. There is always a theme that connects all the solutions, and a “spangram,” a special word or phrase that summarizes the theme of that day, and extends the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

By providing vague hints and no vocabulary, Strands creates a puzzle game that takes longer to play than its other games, such as Wordle and Connections.

If you’re feeling stuck or don’t have 10 minutes or so to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands tips for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your own pace.

NYT Strands advice for today’s theme: Be quiet at first

These words start with a silent letter.

Today’s NYT Strands theme is clearly defined

Words that start with a letter that cannot be pronounced.

NYT Strands spangram tip: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today’s NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

NYT Strands spangram response today

Today’s spangram is SilentLetter.

NYT Strands list for December 9

• The Gnome

• The knuckle

• Honesty

• Psalm

• Roll up

• Mnemonic

• SilentLetter

Looking for more daily online games? Mashable’s Games page has lots of hints, and if you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable has games now!

Check out our games hub of Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the next day? Here is yesterday’s Strands solution.