Today's NYT Strands hints and answer: solutions to game #790, May 2

NYT Strands on a cellphone
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide/NY Times/Shutterstock)
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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 #790 as well as the answers, should it come to that.

Warning: Spoilers lie ahead for Strands #790.

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

The official theme for NYT Strands #790 is... "All the right moves".

And here's an unofficial hint from me: "Learning the steps".

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

  • POISED
  • CASTER
  • SUFFERS
  • NYLON
  • KNACK
  • CREST
  • SICK
  • COIL

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 'L' and ends in 'E'.

Scroll down to find out what it is...


It's LINEDANCE.

Today's Strands answers

So, what are today's Strands answers for game #790?

Drumroll, please...

  • WIZARD
  • PONY
  • SAILOR
  • COASTER
  • SHUFFLE
  • KICK
  • SCUFF

Strands #790

(Image credit: Alan Martin)

...and the spangram was LINEDANCE.

Strands #790

“All the right moves”

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Hi Strands fans. For the second day running, a topic I know nothing about that I somehow managed to complete without using any clues.

"All the right moves" meant nothing to me, and it meant even less when I found WIZARD in the top-right corner.

I then found PONY across from it, which left the letters 'L' and 'I' suspiciously open for a possible spangram. I followed these down and was able to spell out LINEDANCE.

Having never knowingly line danced in my life, this was going to be difficult, but at least the grid was now split in two. That helped me find SAILOR and COASTER below WIZARD to complete the right-hand side.

The left-hand side proved tougher, but eventually I found SHUFFLE in the bottom corner, and the floodgates opened. I immediately found KICK above it, and that just left SCUFF above that to complete the puzzle.

Yesterday's Strands answers

Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Strands answers for game #789.

Strands #789

(Image credit: Alan Martin)
  • 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.

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. He also handles all the Wordle coverage on Tom's Guide and has been playing the addictive NYT game for the last several years in an effort to keep his streak forever intact.