Today's NYT Strands hints and answer: solutions to game #788, April 30

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 #788 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 #788, so read on if you need a little help.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #788.

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

The official theme for NYT Strands #788 is... "Wet blankets".

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Gas to liquid".

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

• SORE
• PAIL
• STADIUM
• SHUT
• MOLES
• RACE
• VOLES
• NOMADS

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 'C' and ends in 'N'.

Scroll down to find out what it is...

It's CONDENSATION.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #788?

Drumroll, please...

• DRIZZLE
• MIST
• STEAM
• HUMIDITY
• VAPOR
• AEROSOL

...and the spangram was CONDENSATION.

Strands #788

“Wet blankets”

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Hi Strands fans. A tricky one today, as with a theme like "Wet blankets", I assumed it would be all about rainy weather rather than CONDENSATION.

That seemed like a safe bet when I found DRIZZLE in the top-right corner. But when I failed to find anything else, I had to use two clues in a row. These revealed MIST on the left-hand side, and STEAM in the bottom-right corner.

Right, so not about weather then. I found HUMIDITY above STEAM and then VAPOR in the top-left corner. That was enough for me to see the shape of the last few letters of the spangram, which turned out to be CONDENSATION spelt backwards from the bottom of the board to the top.

That just left AEROSOL in the bottom-left corner to complete the puzzle.

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Strands answers for game #787.

• REEL
• HOOK
• BOBBER
• WEIGHT
• LURE
• PLIERS
• COOLER
• SWIVEL

...and the spangram was TACKLE.

Strands #787

“Fish or cut bait”

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Hi Strands fans. I know nothing about fishing at all, but fortunately the theme was so overt that even I was able to muddle through without using a single clue.

Firstly, I saw the spangram of TACKLE right in the middle of the board to neatly divide the puzzle in two.

I then found found REEL in the top-left corner, with HOOK next to it. I then spotted BOBBER in the top-right corner, with WEIGHT in the gap to complete the top section.

The bottom half was a bit tougher and did involve some guesswork on my part. While I found LURE and PLIERS relatively quickly, I did find myself connecting random letters for a while. Is a "rivel" a thing? No, no it is not.

Still, this 'strategy' eventually paid off when I found COOLER along the bottom, which just left SWIVEL in the bottom-left corner to complete the puzzle.