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Sunday, December 15 refers to the 2024 NYT Strands puzzle, #287. Its theme is “Moonlighting,” and its spangram is LUNARPHASE. Spoiler-sensitive hints and the full answer list follow.
Hints for Strands #287
Try these clues in order if you want help without seeing every answer at once.
- The theme points to something visible in the night sky.
- The words describe phases or appearances of the Moon.
- The spangram names that category in two words joined together; it has 10 letters.
Spangram
LUNARPHASE
Full answer list
Spoilers: The complete solution is below.
- CRESCENT
- FULL
- GIBBOUS
- QUARTER
- WANING
- WAXING
How the puzzle works
Strands is a themed word-search game: connect letters in the grid to find words related to the daily theme. The spangram captures the theme and crosses opposite sides of the board. For this puzzle, “Moonlighting” connects the six Moon-related words listed above.
Which December 15 puzzle is this?
The date and weekday resolve to Sunday, December 15, 2024; December 15, 2025 fell on a Monday. The answer set and puzzle number are reported by Try Hard Guides, TechRadar, and Parade. These are secondary puzzle-answer guides, not official NYT rules documentation.
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