#643Saturday, December 6, 2025
Strands answers for December 6, 2025 — “Tolkien's world” (#643)
Spoilers below — this page is the full record for this puzzle
The NYT Strands spangram for December 6, 2025 (puzzle #643) is MIDDLEEARTH, a 11-letter answer to the theme "Tolkien's world". The 7 theme words are DWARF, FOREST, HOBBIT, QUEST, RING, SHIRE and WIZARD.
Where is each answer on the December 6 Strands board?
Here are all 7 theme words from the December 6, 2025 Strands puzzle, with the spangram last.
The table gives the start square, end square and travel direction of all 8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DWARF | 5 | row 8, column 4 | row 6, column 3 | diagonally across the grid |
| FOREST | 6 | row 2, column 2 | row 2, column 4 | diagonally across the grid |
| HOBBIT | 6 | row 1, column 5 | row 1, column 6 | diagonally across the grid |
| QUEST | 5 | row 6, column 1 | row 8, column 3 | diagonally across the grid |
| RING | 4 | row 6, column 4 | row 8, column 6 | diagonally across the grid |
| SHIRE | 5 | row 6, column 5 | row 7, column 5 | diagonally across the grid |
| WIZARD | 6 | row 3, column 1 | row 1, column 4 | diagonally across the grid |
| MIDDLEEARTH | 11 | row 4, column 1 | row 5, column 1 | diagonally across the grid |
What did the December 6 Strands grid look like?
Every letter below appears in exactly one answer — the 8 words tile all 48 cells of the December 6, 2025 grid.
Spangram — 11 letters7 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 Z-A-R-D-H-T, row 2 reads I-F-E-T-O-I, row 3 reads W-O-R-S-B-B, row 4 reads M-I-D-D-L-E, row 5 reads H-T-R-A-E-H, row 6 reads Q-R-F-R-S-I, row 7 reads U-A-W-I-E-R, and row 8 reads E-S-T-D-N-G.
How hard was the December 6 Strands puzzle?
On the same measure applied to every puzzle since 2024, Strands #643 comes out easy, ahead of 2% of them.
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 6 Strands puzzle?
Strands puzzle #643 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 6 Strands puzzle
What was the clue for Strands on December 6, 2025?
The Strands clue for December 6, 2025 is “Tolkien's world”, on puzzle #643. It is answered by the spangram MIDDLEEARTH, and all 7 theme words that day belong to that idea.
What were the Strands words on December 6, 2025?
The 7 Strands theme words for December 6, 2025 are DWARF, FOREST, HOBBIT, QUEST, RING, SHIRE and WIZARD, plus the spangram MIDDLEEARTH.
What was the big word in the December 6, 2025 Strands?
The big word — the spangram — for December 6, 2025 is MIDDLEEARTH, 11 letters long, running from row 4, column 1 to row 5, column 1. It is the one word that touches two opposite sides of the board and states the theme outright.
What did the Strands theme “Tolkien's world” mean?
The Strands theme “Tolkien's world” for December 6, 2025 means MIDDLEEARTH — that is what the spangram spells, and every one of the 7 theme words is an example of it.
How many theme words are in Strands December 6, 2025?
Strands puzzle #643 has 7 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.
How difficult was the December 6, 2025 Strands puzzle?
Strands #643 rates easy on a computed index, harder than 2% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.
What number was the Strands puzzle on December 6, 2025?
The Strands puzzle published on Saturday, December 6, 2025 is #643, 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.