NYT Strands today — hints, spangram and answers for game #296 (Tuesday, December 24 2024)

NYT Strands on a cellphone
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide/NY Times/Shutterstock)
Strands today: Quick menu

Need some assistance with NYT Strands today? Today's theme — "Who on earth?" — is rather cryptic, and it took me a while to figure it out.

Below, we've compiled some useful hints for Strands #296, as well as the answers, should it come to that. We'll start off with some clues, before building up to the full answer for Strands #296, so read on if you need a little help.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #296.

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

The official theme for NYT Strands #296 is... "Who on earth...?"

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "And you are?"

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

  • CULL
  • RULE
  • MALES
  • TOLL
  • WANE
  • CULT
  • BILL

Still struggling? The spangram will give you a hint about the connection word. Today, it starts with N and ends with S.

Scroll down to find out what it is...

It's NATURENAMES.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #296?

Drumroll, please...

  • HOLLY
  • BROOK
  • RIVER
  • LAUREL
  • WILLOW
  • CLEMENTINE

Strands #296

(Image credit: Alan Martin)

...and the spangram was NATURENAMES.

Strands #296

“Who on earth ...?”

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Hi Strands fans. This was a toughie! "Who on earth...?" is a clever theme, but I'm afraid I didn't figure out how clever until my penultimate move.

I actually stumbled across a few answers without knowing what I was looking for. I found HOLLY in the top-right corner, followed by BROOK in the bottom right. I then found RIVER on the left.

But despite being three answers down, I still had no idea what the connection between the three words was, so I used a clue. Then another one.

These revealed LAUREL in the bottom left and WILLOW on the right-hand side. It was then that I finally made the connection when I stumbled across the "nature" part of the spangram: NATURENAMES. These are all words that can both describe something from the natural world and be a person's name!

With that in mind, getting the last one was trivial. I connected CLEMENTINE in the top-left corner, and completed the puzzle.

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? You can find the full article on yesterday's Strands answers for game #295 right here.

Alan Martin

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. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.