Having trouble with the NYT Strand puzzle? Today's puzzle theme "Nation celebration" may be a bit difficult for those outside the US

Below are the hints and answers for Strands #123 We will start with the hints and then lead you to the full solution of Strands #123

WARNING: There are spoilers for Strands #123

The official theme for NYT Strands #123 is A Celebration of the Nation"

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Check the date"

If you're still in the dark, here are some useful words that will give you valuable hint tokens:

Still struggling? Spangram gives you a hint on conjunctions Today it starts with 'I' and ends with 'Y'

Scroll down to see what it is

INDEPENDENCEDAY

Now, what's the answer to today's strand?

Drumroll, please

And Spangram is INDEPENDENCEDAY

Strands #123

"Nation celebration"

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Strands fans Have we talked about Strands yet? This might be the first time

Here in the UK it's election day, but on the other side of the Atlantic it's Independence Day: it means "celebrate the country"

I quickly found FIREWORKS spelled out along the right side of the board And as soon as it was in place, I remembered what day it was and looked for the INDEPENDENCEDAY spangram

Easy enough from here, right? But it turns out that I don't know much about what happens on Independence Day, other than fireworks Thankfully, having split the board in two, I was able to see the second word spelled out on the right side: SPARKLER

I was also happy to find FLAG in the middle on the left side, as I knew the stars and stripes would be used for the celebration

Now I only needed to find two words in two segments However, I think there should be a PARADE or two

Are you reading this in a slow time zone? The full article on Strand's answer to yesterday's Round 122 can be found here