December 31’s NYT Strands puzzle focuses on circular motion, connecting all words through spinning actions.
The spangram ROUNDANDROUND ties the theme together, reinforcing the continuous-motion concept across the grid.
Starting-letter hints and thematic connections make solving faster and enhance pattern recognition skills.
The final NYT Strands puzzle of 2025 offers a rollercoaster of wordplay with its title, One Good Turn Deserves Another. Today's challenge encourages the players to look for words that are connected to the circular motion, testing their observational skills, vocabulary, and ability to recognize patterns. Not only that, but each clue is also incorporated into a clever, connected spangram, which gives an extra brain-teasing twist.
The NYT Strands puzzle on December 31 focuses on circular movement. Every word in the whole grid consists of words that describe anything that spins, rotates, or orbits. This theme is a mixture of action and physics, and wordplay, making it a very satisfying "aha" moment when all the parts are put together. The spangram is a big hint for the idea of continuous motion, uniting all the answers into one single phrase.
Here are helpful hints for each word in the puzzle:
OR – A path around a planet or star (5 letters)
RA – To turn around a central point (6 letters)
PI – A smooth, spinning ballet move (9 letters)
SP – A twirling motion, often playful (4 letters)
WH – A fast, circular movement in air or on ice (5 letters)
CI – A simple, continuous geometric shape (6 letters)
The non-spangram answers for December 31 are:
ORBIT
ROTATE
CIRCLE
PIROUETTE
WHIRL
SPIN
The spangram for today is: ROUNDANDROUND. This expression describes the puzzle's repetitive or circular motion theme and also connects all the words playfully and unforgettably. The yellow highlight gives it a pleasing solution that connects the whole grid.
Start with the first letters to narrow down possible words.
Look for thematic connections. Today, any action that goes in circles fits.
The spangram often hints at the overall theme, so keep it in mind while searching.
December 31’s NYT Strands puzzle is a delightful circular challenge that combines logic, observation, and a bit of physics. The daily habit of solving NYT Strands builds up vocabulary and also hones the skill of recognizing patterns, and finally, it gives a great and satisfying end-of-the-year puzzle ritual.