Can I help you a little today? Today's puzzle - "Pump it up!""- Is very puzzling, and I had lost even with four words on board!

Below we've compiled some useful tips for Strand#88 and the answer to that. We'll start with a few clues before building the full answer for Strand #88, so read on if you need a little help.

Warning: Spoilers are ahead for Strand #88.  

The official theme of NYT Strand #88 is:.. "Pump it up!

And here's an unofficial tip from me: "Are you shoe-r about this?"

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 'H' and ends with 'S'.

Scroll down to find out what it is...

So what is the answer for today's strand in game #88?

Drum roll, please...

...AND THE SPANGRAMS WERE HIGHHEELS.

tips: 1

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hi chain. This was one of the trickiest puzzles I've ever encountered - everything I know about high-heeled shoes can be written on the back of a stamp

Initially, I thought of the theme - "Pump it up!" - and I thought, "Pump it up!" - and I thought, "Pump it up!" - and I thought, "Pump it up!" - and I thought, "Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up! Pump it up!"-inflatables or maybe music is about, but I couldn't see anything related to either, so I finally drilled a hole and used the clues. It gave me a cone in the upper left corner which meant nothing to me.

Nevertheless, I tried to stick around and simply recall the plausible words: "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." To my surprise, the blocks, wedges and chunky have all proved correct and I am now completely baffled. Is this about form or what?

It was only when I got Cuba that I found a word associated with shoes, and thankfully, I worked backwards and got spangram

It left 2 answers to find, and both were words I actually associate with high-heeled shoes. It was: a kitten to the left, and a stiletto to the right.

Man, it was hard-But I would be interested to know if a reader with a better knowledge of shoes has found a doddle to it...

Are you reading this in a later time zone? You can find the full article of yesterday's Strand answer for game #87 right here.