#283Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Strands answers for December 11, 2024 — “Board certified” (#283)
Spoilers below — this page is the full record for this puzzle
The NYT Strands spangram for December 11, 2024 (puzzle #283) is WOODWORKING, a 11-letter answer to the theme "Board certified". The 7 theme words are CHISEL, DRILL, JIGSAW, LATHE, PLANE, SANDER and VISE.
Where is each answer on the December 11 Strands board?
Here are all 7 theme words from the December 11, 2024 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHISEL | 6 | row 6, column 2 | row 2, column 4 | diagonally across the grid |
| DRILL | 5 | row 7, column 5 | row 8, column 2 | right to left |
| JIGSAW | 6 | row 5, column 1 | row 7, column 1 | diagonally across the grid |
| LATHE | 5 | row 5, column 5 | row 7, column 3 | diagonally across the grid |
| PLANE | 5 | row 1, column 5 | row 4, column 6 | top to bottom |
| SANDER | 6 | row 1, column 2 | row 4, column 3 | top to bottom |
| VISE | 4 | row 8, column 5 | row 6, column 6 | diagonally across the grid |
| WOODWORKING | 11 | row 3, column 3 | row 8, column 1 | diagonally across the grid |
What did the December 11 Strands grid look like?
Every letter below appears in exactly one answer — the 8 words tile all 48 cells of the December 11, 2024 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 A-S-O-D-P-L, row 2 reads N-O-E-L-W-A, row 3 reads D-E-W-S-O-N, row 4 reads I-G-R-I-R-E, row 5 reads J-S-H-K-L-A, row 6 reads A-C-I-H-T-E, row 7 reads W-N-E-I-D-S, and row 8 reads G-L-L-R-V-I.
How hard was the December 11 Strands puzzle?
Measured against the full archive, the December 11, 2024 puzzle lands in the easy range — above 26% of all Strands puzzles.
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 11 Strands puzzle?
Strands puzzle #283 was edited by Tracy Bennett, who also constructed it. Output across the whole run is broken down on who makes NYT Strands.
Common questions about the December 11 Strands puzzle
What was the clue for Strands on December 11, 2024?
The Strands clue for December 11, 2024 is “Board certified”, on puzzle #283. It is answered by the spangram WOODWORKING, and all 7 theme words that day belong to that idea.
What were the Strands words on December 11, 2024?
The 7 Strands theme words for December 11, 2024 are CHISEL, DRILL, JIGSAW, LATHE, PLANE, SANDER and VISE, plus the spangram WOODWORKING.
What was the big word in the December 11, 2024 Strands?
The big word — the spangram — for December 11, 2024 is WOODWORKING, 11 letters long, running from row 3, column 3 to row 8, 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 “Board certified” mean?
The Strands theme “Board certified” for December 11, 2024 means WOODWORKING — 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 11, 2024?
Strands puzzle #283 has 7 theme words plus one spangram, and together they use all 48 letters on the board exactly once.
How difficult was the December 11, 2024 Strands puzzle?
Strands #283 rates easy on a computed index, harder than 26% of every Strands puzzle published since March 2024.
What number was the Strands puzzle on December 11, 2024?
The Strands puzzle published on Wednesday, December 11, 2024 is #283, 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 2024, part of the full Strands archive.