NYT Strands puzzle #646 for Tuesday, December 9, 2025, has a basketball theme. Start with the hints below if you want to solve it yourself; the spangram and complete answer list are farther down.
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
The theme is “On the court.” Parade’s progressive clue is “Hoop it up!” Think of basketball terms and actions. Parade’s December 9 hints and TechRadar’s puzzle guide identify the same theme.
Need another hint?
The theme words begin with these letter pairs, in no particular order: DU, SC, JU, RE, DR, GU, BL. The spangram begins with BA. These are opening-letter clues, not the answers.
What is the Strands spangram?
The spangram is BASKETBALL. TechRadar reports that it starts at the left edge of the board on row four and ends at the right edge on row four. The sources consulted do not establish every letter-by-letter path, so this guide does not reconstruct the board.
What are the NYT Strands answers for December 9?
The seven theme words are:
- DUNK
- SCREEN
- JUMP
- REBOUND
- DRIBBLE
- GUARD
- BLOCK
The answer list is corroborated by Parade, TechRadar, and the WordsRated Strands archive.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How Strands works
Strands is a themed word search played on a six-by-eight letter grid. Theme words can turn in any direction, and the spangram describes the theme while connecting two opposite edges. Each letter belongs to exactly one word; theme words turn blue when found and the spangram turns yellow. Finding three non-theme words earns a hint that reveals letters in a theme word, according to The Word Finder’s Strands explainer.
The daily puzzle appears at midnight in each player’s time zone, TechRadar notes, so a puzzle described as “today’s” can depend on where you are. This answer key is for the puzzle dated December 9, 2025, game #646.
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