Today's NYT Strands hints and answer: solutions to game #789, May 1

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 #789 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 #789, so read on if you need a little help.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #789.

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

The official theme for NYT Strands #789 is... "I ❤️ Hawaii".

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Island associations".

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

• MULE
• RIPE
• SULK
• PHONE
• MEAL
• HOLE
• PALIT
• MINED
• PINED

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 'A' and ends in 'T'.

Scroll down to find out what it is...

It's ALOHASPIRIT.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #789?

Drumroll, please...

• UKULELE
• PINEAPPLE
• MACADAMIA
• HULA
• POKE
• LUAU

...and the spangram was ALOHASPIRIT.

Strands #789

“I ❤️ Hawaii”

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Hi Strands fans. I occasionally moan about how these puzzles are a little US-centric for those of us outside the United States, but even I was able to get every answer in this very US-centric puzzle without using any clues.

It helped that the theme of “I ❤️ Hawaii” isn't even slightly subtle. I saw the word "spirit" right away, but couldn't see the spangram extension so instead connected UKULELE below it.

I then saw "aloha" along the left-hand side, so connected it to "spirit" to complete the spangram of ALOHASPIRIT.

With the board neatly split in two, the hunt for additional answers was suddenly more focused, and I was able to connect PINEAPPLE and MACADAMIA in the lower section, despite not knowing these two foods are particularly associated with the island.

The top would have been a challenge, except I could see there were only three answers remaining and exactly 12 letters.

That meant each answer had to be four letters long, which made it easy. HULA was on the right, POKE in the middle and LUAU on the left to complete the puzzle.

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Strands answers for game #788.

• 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.