These are the NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, December 5, 2025, puzzle #642. The theme is “Feeling peckish?” and the clue is “Can I see a menu?” Start with the theme hint, then reveal progressively more if you need it.
Theme hint for Strands #642
Think of places where you might go to eat or drink. The theme words are venues rather than particular dishes.
Starting-letter hints
Use these pairs to nudge your search without revealing the complete answers:
- BA
- CA
- BI
- BU
- BR
- ST
- DI — the spangram
Spoiler warning: full answers below
The complete solution is next. Stop here if you want to keep solving.
Six theme words
- BAKERY
- BISTRO
- BREWERY
- BUFFET
- CAFE
- STEAKHOUSE
Spangram
The spangram is DININGOUT. It is separate from the six theme words.
How hints work in Strands
Strands is a New York Times word-search-style game organized around a theme. The spangram describes that theme and connects two opposite sides of the board. According to the cited answer guides, finding three non-theme words earns a hint that reveals a theme word. This answer set is corroborated by Try Hard Guides and TechRadar; Parade also gives the theme clue and starting-letter hints.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which date does “today’s” answer refer to?
This is a historical answer page for game #642 on Friday, December 5, 2025—not a claim about the current daily puzzle. TechRadar notes that a new puzzle appears at midnight in each time zone, so “today” can refer to different calendar dates depending on where a player is. The answer list here is corroborated by secondary guides; it is not presented as a direct check against an archived NYT board.
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