#640Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Strands answers for December 3, 2025 — “It all adds up” (#640)
Spoilers below — this page is the full record for this puzzle
The NYT Strands spangram for December 3, 2025 (puzzle #640) is MATHCLASS, a 9-letter answer to the theme "It all adds up". The 5 theme words are CALCULATION, EQUATION, FUNCTION, GRAPH and THEOREM.
Where is each answer on the December 3 Strands board?
The full answer set for puzzle #640 is 5 theme words and one spangram.
The table gives the start square, end square and travel direction of all 6 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.
| Answer | Letters | Starts | Ends | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CALCULATION | 11 | row 2, column 3 | row 7, column 1 | diagonally across the grid |
| EQUATION | 8 | row 3, column 5 | row 1, column 4 | diagonally across the grid |
| FUNCTION | 8 | row 8, column 6 | row 4, column 6 | bottom to top |
| GRAPH | 5 | row 5, column 3 | row 3, column 2 | diagonally across the grid |
| THEOREM | 7 | row 7, column 4 | row 5, column 5 | diagonally across the grid |
| MATHCLASS | 9 | row 8, column 1 | row 1, column 6 | diagonally across the grid |
What did the December 3 Strands grid look like?
Puzzle #640 is played on 48 letters arranged in eight rows of six.
Spangram — 9 letters5 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 U-C-A-N-S-S, row 2 reads L-L-C-I-O-A, row 3 reads A-H-T-U-E-L, row 4 reads T-P-A-Q-C-N, row 5 reads I-A-G-H-M-O, row 6 reads O-R-T-R-E-I, row 7 reads N-A-O-T-T-U, and row 8 reads M-E-H-C-N-F.
How hard was the December 3 Strands puzzle?
The difficulty index rates puzzle #640 as above average: it sits at the 65th percentile of every Strands grid to date.
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 3 Strands puzzle?
Strands puzzle #640 was edited by Tracy Bennett and constructed by Christina Iverson. Output across the whole run is broken down on who makes NYT Strands.
Common questions about the December 3 Strands puzzle
What was the clue for Strands on December 3, 2025?
The Strands clue for December 3, 2025 is “It all adds up”, on puzzle #640. It is answered by the spangram MATHCLASS, and all 5 theme words that day belong to that idea.
What were the Strands words on December 3, 2025?
The 5 Strands theme words for December 3, 2025 are CALCULATION, EQUATION, FUNCTION, GRAPH and THEOREM, plus the spangram MATHCLASS.
What was the big word in the December 3, 2025 Strands?
The big word — the spangram — for December 3, 2025 is MATHCLASS, 9 letters long, running from row 8, column 1 to row 1, column 6. It is the one word that touches two opposite sides of the board and states the theme outright.
What did the Strands theme “It all adds up” mean?
The Strands theme “It all adds up” for December 3, 2025 means MATHCLASS — that is what the spangram spells, and every one of the 5 theme words is an example of it.
How many theme words are in Strands December 3, 2025?
Strands puzzle #640 has 5 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.
How difficult was the December 3, 2025 Strands puzzle?
Strands #640 rates above average on a computed index, harder than 65% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.
What number was the Strands puzzle on December 3, 2025?
The Strands puzzle published on Wednesday, December 3, 2025 is #640, 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.