Strands Hint

#648Thursday, December 11, 2025

Strands answers for December 11, 2025 — “Let me elaborate ...” (#648)

The NYT Strands spangram for December 11, 2025 (puzzle #648) is ANDFURTHERMORE, a 14-letter answer to the theme "Let me elaborate ...". The 4 theme words are ADDENDUM, EPILOGUE, FOOTNOTE and POSTSCRIPT.

ADDENDUMEPILOGUEFOOTNOTEPOSTSCRIPTANDFURTHERMORE

Where is each answer on the December 11 Strands board?

The full answer set for puzzle #648 is 4 theme words and one spangram.

The table gives the start square, end square and travel direction of all 5 answers. Every position comes from solving the grid outright — the answers have to tile all 48 letters with no overlap and no remainder, which is what makes a single arrangement provable.

Verified board positions, Strands puzzle #648
AnswerLettersStartsEndsDirection
ADDENDUM8row 8, column 3row 8, column 1diagonally across the grid
EPILOGUE8row 5, column 5row 6, column 6diagonally across the grid
FOOTNOTE8row 4, column 5row 3, column 5diagonally across the grid
POSTSCRIPT10row 2, column 3row 6, column 1diagonally across the grid
ANDFURTHERMORE14row 2, column 1row 8, column 4diagonally across the grid

What did the December 11 Strands grid look like?

Puzzle #648 is played on 48 letters arranged in eight rows of six.

NDFUONAOPRTTSTSTEOCIEHFORPRMEPTDNOIEUEDRLUMDAEOG

Spangram — 14 letters4 theme words

Each line traces one answer through the letters it uses; the heavier yellow line is the spangram.

Read across the grid, row 1 reads N-D-F-U-O-N, row 2 reads A-O-P-R-T-T, row 3 reads S-T-S-T-E-O, row 4 reads C-I-E-H-F-O, row 5 reads R-P-R-M-E-P, row 6 reads T-D-N-O-I-E, row 7 reads U-E-D-R-L-U, and row 8 reads M-D-A-E-O-G.

How hard was the December 11 Strands puzzle?

The difficulty index rates puzzle #648 as hard: it sits at the 98th percentile of every Strands grid to date.

Difficulty
98
percentile, hard
Path turns
28
direction changes
Decoy words
1081
non-theme words accepted
Mean answer
8.5
letters per theme word

Easiest puzzle ever published on the left, hardest on the right. The formula behind the score, and the ranked list of every puzzle, are on the Strands difficulty index.

Who made the December 11 Strands puzzle?

Strands puzzle #648 was edited by Tracy Bennett and constructed by Sam Corbin. Output across the whole run is broken down on who makes NYT Strands.

Common questions about the December 11 Strands puzzle

What was the clue for Strands on December 11, 2025?

The Strands clue for December 11, 2025 is “Let me elaborate ...”, on puzzle #648. It is answered by the spangram ANDFURTHERMORE, and all 4 theme words that day belong to that idea.

What were the Strands words on December 11, 2025?

The 4 Strands theme words for December 11, 2025 are ADDENDUM, EPILOGUE, FOOTNOTE and POSTSCRIPT, plus the spangram ANDFURTHERMORE.

What was the big word in the December 11, 2025 Strands?

The big word — the spangram — for December 11, 2025 is ANDFURTHERMORE, 14 letters long, running from row 2, column 1 to row 8, column 4. It is the one word that touches two opposite sides of the board and states the theme outright.

What did the Strands theme “Let me elaborate ...” mean?

The Strands theme “Let me elaborate ...” for December 11, 2025 means ANDFURTHERMORE — that is what the spangram spells, and every one of the 4 theme words is an example of it.

How many theme words are in Strands December 11, 2025?

Strands puzzle #648 has 4 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.

How difficult was the December 11, 2025 Strands puzzle?

Strands #648 rates hard on a computed index, harder than 98% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.

What number was the Strands puzzle on December 11, 2025?

The Strands puzzle published on Thursday, December 11, 2025 is #648, counting from the game's launch on March 4, 2024.


Today’s puzzle and its hint ladder are on the front page. This puzzle sits in December 2025, part of the full Strands archive.