Need help with today's NYT strand? Today's theme, “Pass the eggnog,” is obviously Christmas-themed, but what do you think?

Below are some helpful hints and what-if answers for Strands #295. Please read on if you need a little help, as we will start with the hints and then get to the full solution to Strands #295.

WARNING: There are spoilers for Strand #295.

The official theme for NYT Strands #295 is... “Pass the Eggnog.”

And here's an unofficial hint from me: ”Tastes and Smells of the Season.”

If you're still in the dark, here are some useful words that will give you valuable hint tokens:

Still struggling? Spangram gives you a hint on conjunctive words. Today's word starts with H and ends with R.

HOLIDAYFLAVOR.

Now, what is the answer to today's Strand game #295?

Drumroll please.

... Spangram was HOLIDAYFLAVOR.

Strands #295

“Pass the eggnog”

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Hi Strands fans, For the second day in a row the theme was “Pass the eggnog”, which was obviously a seasonal It was going to be a puzzle.

At first I thought I might have to list the ingredients for a festive drink, but when I spotted a GINGERBREAD wrapped around the middle of the board, I realized this was more about general Christmas smells and flavors. [The next puzzle I found was PEPPERMINT, and since 21 of the 48 letters were already filled in, I realized that this would be the smallest strand puzzle ever, with only five answers, including the spangram. HOLIDAYFLAVOR was at the top of the grid, with 14 letters only 14 letters remained

and COCOA was sandwiched between my existing answers, leaving only CRANBERRY in the bottom right corner to complete the puzzle.

Are you reading this late in the day? You can read about Strand's solution to yesterday's game #294 here.