Today's NYT Strands hints and answer: solutions to game #787, April 29

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 #787 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 #787, so read on if you need a little help.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #787.

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

The official theme for NYT Strands #787 is... "Fish or cut bait".

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Fisherman's friends".

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

• VICE
• RIGHT
• PERIL
• RIPE
• SLOW
• PELT
• LIVE
• THICK

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 'T' and ends in 'E'.

Scroll down to find out what it is...

It's TACKLE.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #787?

Drumroll, please...

• 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.

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Strands answers for game #786.

• WITNESS
• OBSERVE
• WATCH
• BEHOLD
• EYEBALL
• MONITOR

...and the spangram was LIKEAHAWK.

Strands #786

“Attention, attention!”

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Hi Strands fans. Relatively straightforward today, though I did go blank after finding four answers.

I found WITNESS in the bottom-left corner, and when combined with the theme of "Attention, attention", it clicked that this had to be about synonyms for watching.

Sure enough, I found OBSERVE above it, and WATCH above that. I then noticed BEHOLD spelt backwards in the top-right corner, to prove that the spangram would have to be horizontal, rather than vertical.

Indeed, I could see where the spangram would start on the left-hand side with the word "like", but couldn't see how to connect it. I also couldn't spot any other obvious answers, so had to use a clue.

The clue revealed EYEBALL in the bottom-right corner, which helped me to see MONITOR above it. With my six answers found, all that was left was to connect the spangram of LIKEAHAWK to complete the puzzle.