Today's NYT Strands hints and answer — solutions to game #651, December 14

NYT Strands on a cellphone
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide/NY Times/Shutterstock)
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Need a bit of help with NYT Strands today? No shame in that, and you've come to the right place. Below, we've compiled some useful hints for Strands #651, as well as the answers, should it come to that.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #651.

Today's NYT Strands answer — Today's theme and hints

The official theme for NYT Strands #651 is... "Pricy pairing".

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "A filling meal".

If you're still in the dark, here are some useful words to give you those valuable clue tokens:

  • SPATS
  • FIERY
  • LONERS
  • RAMPS
  • BRIE
  • PAST
  • RUBE
  • LAMPS

Still struggling? The spangram touches two opposite sides of the board (but can start and end anywhere), and will give you a hint about the connection between the answers. Today, it starts with 'S' and ends with 'F'.

Scroll down to find out what it is...


It's SURFANDTURF.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #651?

Drumroll, please...

  • RIBEYE
  • LOBSTER
  • SIRLOIN
  • SHRIMP
  • CRAB
  • SCALLOP

Strands #651

(Image credit: Alan Martin)

...and the spangram was SURFANDTURF.

Strands #651

“Pricy pairing”

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Hi Strands fans. A puzzle to make you hungry today, unless you're vegetarian. While the theme of "Pricy pairing" wasn't immediately clear, my eye was appropriately drawn to RIBEYE at the top of the board, and I was away.

I then found LOBSTER in the bottom-right corner, which made the spangram obvious. I found SURFANDTURF spanning from the top-left corner to near the bottom of the board.

SIRLOIN was isolated in the top-right corner, and I was left with three to find. SHRIMP was in the middle of the blank section, which left two answers either side of it. CRAB was above, and that just left SCALLOP below to complete the puzzle.

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Strands answers for game #650.

Strands #650

(Image credit: Alan Martin)
  • UNRULY
  • CHAOTIC
  • STORMY
  • TUMULTUOUS
  • DISORDERLY

...and the spangram was THATSWILD.

Strands #650

“All over the place”

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Hi Strands fans. I would have been completely lost with today's theme of "All over the place", if it weren't for finding the world UNRULY in the top-left corner right away.

That, combined with CHAOTIC to its right, helped me see the spangram of THATSWILD spelled out beneath them.

But I was still stumped at this point, using a clue to reveal STORMY. That's irritating, as I'd actually already connected "storm" while collecting possible clue words, but there we are.

Two words were left to find, and they were both long ones. After a long pause spent staring at my remaining letters, I found that all of the 'U's at the bottom of the board were part of TUMULTUOUS.

With my remaining letters, I spelled out DISORDERLY to complete the puzzle.

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. He also handles all the Wordle coverage on Tom's Guide and has been playing the addictive NYT game for the last several years in an effort to keep his streak forever intact.