NYT Strands puzzle #493 for Wednesday, July 9, 2025, has the theme “Party time!” Its spangram is DECORATIONS; the other answers are BALLOON, BUNTING, PENNANT, CONFETTI and STREAMER. Start with the spoiler-light hints below if you still want to solve the board yourself.
Spoiler-light hints for July 9
- Theme: Party time!
- A gentler clue: A festive look.
- First letters: BA, BU, PE, CO, ST and DE. DE begins the spangram.
- Spangram length: 11 letters.
For the in-game hint system, TechRadar lists FINAL, SONNET, CLOSE, POET, TOOL and BURNT as clue words. Find three non-theme words to earn a hint.
Spangram placement
The spangram runs mostly vertically across the board. TechRadar describes its path as starting at the top in the sixth column and ending at the bottom in the first column. See TechRadar’s July 9 Strands hints for its board description.
Full NYT Strands answer for July 9, 2025
Spoilers below.
- BALLOON
- BUNTING
- PENNANT
- CONFETTI
- STREAMER
- Spangram: DECORATIONS
TechRadar and Parade’s July 9 answer guide give the same solution. Forbes’ guide to puzzle #493 also lists the same theme words.
How Strands works
Find the theme words in the letter grid; completed theme words highlight blue. The spangram describes the puzzle’s theme, connects two opposite sides of the grid and highlights yellow. Letters can be connected vertically, horizontally or diagonally. Finding three words that are not theme answers earns an in-game hint. Parade describes these rules in its July 9 Strands guide.
Quick Recap
Rank #3
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