Today's NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Dec. 17, #289

5 days ago 3

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Connections puzzles.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to connect the title of today's Strands puzzle with its topic. The title of the puzzle is, "It's lit!" which I understand as a Gen Z phrase for something that's exciting or fun, like a party. But as an English major, I should have seen immediately that "lit" is also short for "literature." Anyway, if you need more hints and answers for today's Strands puzzle, read on.

Also, I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you're looking for today's Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET's NYT puzzle hints page.

Hint for today's Strands puzzle

Today's Strands theme is: It's lit!

If that doesn't help you, here's a clue: Sections in a bookstore.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle's theme. If you're stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

CAME, MACE, RENT, RIME, WETS, MORE, CHOIR, CHOIRS, HINGE, TING, TINGE, STEW, WEST, REST, LATE.

Answers for today's Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you've got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: