If you are a follower of the NBA, the hints for today’s NYT Strands are straightforward.

Strands, the New York Times‘ innovative word-search puzzle, offers players a distinctive variation on the conventional word search. Words can be constructed from adjacent letters — moving up, down, left, right, or diagonally, and can switch directions, resulting in peculiar shapes and designs. Every character in the grid contributes to an answer. There’s consistently a theme tying every solution together, alongside the “spangram,” a unique word or phrase that captures the essence of the day’s theme and spans the entire grid either horizontally or vertically.

By presenting an ambiguous hint and omitting a word list, Strands formulates a demanding game that requires more time to solve than other games like Wordle and Connections.

If you’re feeling lost or don’t have 10 or more minutes to tackle today’s puzzle, we have all the NYT Strands hints necessary for you to make progress at your own speed.

NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: On the court

The terms are associated with athletics.

Today’s NYT Strands theme clearly described

These terms pertain to a well-liked American pastime.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today’s NYT Strands spangram runs horizontally.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

The spangram for today is Basketball.

NYT Strands word list for December 9

• Rebound

• Block

<