Today's NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 16 #804

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Today's NYT Strands puzzle is an especially delicious one. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you're looking for today's Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET's NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Today's Strands theme is: Bon appétit!

If that doesn't help you, here's a clue: Treats you might have with coffee or tea.

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle's theme. If you're stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

• FRENCH, CARE, RACE, MARE, REAM, CATS, CAST, CASTS, BAKE, CASE, CASES, SCAT

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

• ECLAIR, MOUSSE, MACARON, MERINGUE, CROISSANT

Today's Strands spangram is FRENCHBAKERY. To find it, start with the F that's the first letter on the top row, and wind straight across, and then straight down.