Can I help you a little today? Today's puzzle - "onboard" - is very puzzling, with plenty of definitions available

Below we've compiled some useful tips for Strand#72 and the answer to that We'll start with a few clues before building the full answer for Strand #72, so read on if you need a little help

Warning: Spoilers are ahead for Strand #72  

The official theme of NYT Strand #72 is "Onboard"

And here's an unofficial tip from me: Don't eat from it

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

Still struggling? Spangram will give you tips about connecting words Today, it starts with 'C' and ends with 'E'

Scroll down to find out what it is

It's Charcuterie

So what is the answer for today's strand in game #72?

Drum roll, please

AND THE SPANGRAM WAS A CHARCUTERIE

????

????

?

Howdy Strand Fans What a tricky puzzle! Theme - "onboard" - I was flinging off in all sorts of wrong directions: board games, boarding options and things you ride like a train, plane or boat

After fruitlessly searching for what might fit these briefs, I finally used the clues to drill a hole 

When it gave me a brie in the upper right corner, I was still wrong with my revised thinking as I assumed it was about cheeseboard In fact, it was a wider charcuterie - today's spangrams meandered across the board from top left to bottom right

Once it was in place, the rest went reasonably fast Both salami and olives were cordoned off around the spangram without extra characters to distract, and crackers were also reasonably easy to find 

The spread is a bit vague to my taste, but there were only 2 words easy to find: fruit and nuts 

Not my favorite strand game so far, but at least the NYT makes things interesting with ambiguous themes

Are you reading this in a later time zone? You can find the full article of yesterday's Strand answer for game #71 right here