

NYT Strands is one of the unique word puzzles that challenge players to find new words from the randomly arranged letters.
The task is to form correct words that match the theme of the puzzle. Like today’s theme is ‘How puzzling.’
Players need to find six non-spangram words and a spangram word from the grid to solve the puzzle.
NYT Strands November 12 puzzle is live with a randomly scattered letter grid and a theme. Apparently, looking at the grid makes no sense, but if you observe properly, the letters will form words to justify the stated theme. Strands maintain no form. Therefore, words can be formed in any manner.
Today’s NYT Strands presents a new challenge where players need to understand the theme and then observe the letter grid to form suitable words that match the theme. Finally, their goal is to discover the spangram.
The theme of NYT Strands on November 12, 2025, is ‘How puzzling.’ Looking at the theme, most players have probably got the idea what today’s puzzle is all about. If you are thinking about a puzzle after seeing the theme of the day, you are on the right track.
Today’s theme refers to puzzles, to be more specific, elements of puzzles like crosswords. Therefore, the non-snapgram and snapgram words will be related to different terms that players often use while solving crossword puzzles.
Also Read: NYT Wordle Answer Today for November 10, 2025: Hints and Expert Walkthrough Revealed
To make the process a bit easier, here are the additional clues:
Hint 1: The first word starts with DO and is a four-letter word.
Hint 2: The second word starts with GR and is a four-letter word
Hint 3: The third word starts with CL and is a five-letter word
Hint 4: The fourth word starts with AC and is a six-letter word
Hint 5: The fifth word starts with BY and is a six-letter word
Hint 6: The sixth word starts with NU and is a seven-letter word.
Hint 7: The seventh word starts with AN and is a seven-letter word.
NYT Strands Answer November 12, 2025, for non-spangram words include:
DOWN
GRID
CLUES
ACROSS
BYLINE
NUMBERS
ANSWERS
All these words are related to word puzzles and players need to understand and connect these to solve any word puzzle. Based on these, let’s discover the spangram of today’s NYT Strands:
Now, it's time to know today’s spangram. For the NYT Strands November 12, 2025, the spangram is
CROSSWORD
This phrase stretches across two sides of the grid horizontally from the right side of the grid to the left side of the grid. Players will find it in the fourth row of the puzzle from the upper side. Like every day, the snapgram defines the theme of the puzzle and justifies all the words. To know the locations of the words and the spangram, check out the image below:
NYT Strands is one of the most captivating word puzzle games by The New York Times that blends elements from other renowned puzzle games like Spelling Bee, Connections, and traditional crosswords. If one is struggling with this puzzle, here are some tips to make the process smoother:
Players must focus on word patterns and associations.
Start finding words from the corner. The spangram is rarely at the corner of the grid, so non-spangram words can be there.
Don’t step back to get a hint. For every non-theme word, one guess will earn them a hint.
The spangram is generally stretched vertically across the board to look for it accordingly.
NYT Strands never fails to taste the vocabulary of puzzle-enthusiasts. Every day, it presents a new theme which allows them to think out of the box. Observation and understanding of the theme is essential to figure out the associated words.
The puzzle never repeats its theme, therefore, everyday, there’s a fresh challenge to solve. Though none of these themes actually presents an unsolvable problem, they require brainstorming, without which Stands seems impossible to solve.
Also Read: NYT Connections Hints and Answers for November 11, 2025 (Puzzle #884)