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NYT Strands Answer & Hints — “Please hold”, December 26, 2025

Stuck on the December 26, 2025 NYT Strands puzzle? Here are progressive hints and the full answer for the “Please hold” puzzle (Strands #356 of 509 in our archive). Every reveal is hidden by default — click to open the ones you need.

Spoiler warning. The answers below are for the December 26, 2025 NYT Strands puzzle. Scroll past this section if you want to solve it yourself first.
Hint 1: The themeReveal

The theme for the December 26, 2025 NYT Strands puzzle is “Please hold”. Every theme word and the spangram connects back to this phrase, so think about what related words might fit a 6×8 grid of 48 letters before you start scanning.

Hint 2: Spangram length and first letterReveal

The spangram for the “Please hold” puzzle is 9 letters long and starts with the letter B. It touches two opposite edges of the grid, as every NYT Strands spangram does.

Hint 3: How many theme wordsReveal

Besides the spangram, the December 26, 2025 NYT Strands puzzle has 8 theme words. Together with the spangram, they use every letter on the 6×8 grid exactly once.

Answer: Full spangramReveal

The spangram for the December 26, 2025 NYT Strands “Please hold” puzzle is BOXINGDAY. It spans two opposite edges of the 6×8 grid and captures the theme directly.

Answer: All theme wordsReveal

Here are the 8 theme words for the December 26, 2025 NYT Strands “Please hold” puzzle:

  • BALLOT
  • GIFT
  • LUNCH
  • MATCH
  • PIZZA
  • SHOE
  • TACKLE
  • TOOL

Plus the spangram BOXINGDAY, that’s every word on the grid — all 48 letters accounted for.

Answers for the December 26, 2025 NYT Strands puzzle. Strands Unlimited is an independent fan archive — today's NYT Strands is free on nytimes.com/games/strands.

About the "Please hold" NYT Strands puzzle

The theme "Please hold" sets the scene for this Strands puzzle with a descriptive phrase that hints at what the hidden words have in common. Descriptive themes in Strands work like a title for a category — they paint a picture, and the theme words are the details that fill it in. This general puzzle asks you to find words that fit within the world the theme describes, with the spangram acting as the key that connects them all.

At 8 theme words, this is one of the denser puzzles in the archive. The grid is packed, so words will be closer together. With 9 letters, the spangram is mid-length — long enough to stand out in the grid but still requiring careful scanning to trace from edge to edge. Originally published on a Friday, Puzzle #356 is a more recent addition to the 509+ puzzle archive.

#356
Puzzle Number
8
Theme Words
9
Spangram Letters
Challenging
Difficulty

How to approach "Please hold"

  • The theme paints a picture. Brainstorm 5-10 words that come to mind when you read it, then scan the grid for those words or close variants.
  • There are 8 theme words packed into this grid. Try to find 2-3 shorter words first to free up space and make the remaining words easier to trace.
  • Work from the corners of the grid — corner letters have fewer possible neighboring connections, which limits where words can go and makes them easier to trace.
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Strands Unlimited is an independent fan archive of past Strands puzzles. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by The New York Times Company. NYT Strands is a trademark of The New York Times Company. Today's daily puzzle is free at nytimes.com/games/strands.