Today's Strands puzzle, themed "A Visit From Santa," presents a Christmas-themed word puzzle. The challenge involves identifying nine items, including eight themed words and a pangram, hidden within a jumbled letter grid. Even experienced Strands players may find this puzzle challenging.
This article provides varying levels of assistance, from general hints to complete spoilers.
NYT Games Strands Puzzle #297 December 25, 2024
The clue is A Visit From Santa. Nine items are to be found.
Hints:
Three expandable hint sections offer progressively more specific clues:
General Hint 1
Hint 1: What might Santa bring?
[read more - Hint 1: Consider typical Christmas gifts.]
General Hint 2
Hint 2: Small gifts.
[read more - Hint 2: Think of small items often found in stockings.]
General Hint 3
Hint 3: Small gifts to fill your sock-like decorations.
[read more - Hint 3: The theme focuses on items commonly placed in Christmas stockings.]
Spoilers:
Two expandable sections reveal specific words and their locations within the grid:
Spoiler 1
Word 1: Candy
[read more - Image showing the location of "Candy" in the puzzle grid.]
Spoiler 2
Word 2: Toys
[read more - Image showing the location of "Toys" in the puzzle grid.]
Complete Solution:
This expandable section contains the full solution:
The category is Stocking. The words are Toys, Plushie, Orange, Socks, Scarf, Coal, Candy, and Pens.
[read more - Image showing the locations of all words within the puzzle grid.]
Theme Explanation:
[read more - The theme, "A Visit from Santa," relates to the stocking stuffer theme. All the words represent small gifts commonly found in Christmas stockings.]
Play Strands on the New York Times Games website, accessible on most devices with a web browser.
