Greetings once again, Strandistas. We’ve made it to Saturday, and you know what that means: It’s time to untangle another twisted grid of sneaky words, hidden messages, and one spangram to rule them all NYT Strands. Today’s Strands puzzle might have you feeling like you’re dribbling in the dark—unless you know your way around a certain professional sports league. Let’s jump in!
What Is NYT Strands?
If you’re new here: Strands is The New York Times’ latest addition to its growing family of daily brainteasers, combining the appeal of word search with the clever twists we love from games like Spelling Bee and Connections. Each puzzle comes with a hidden theme, several words to find, and one “spangram” that stretches from one end of the board to the other—unlocking the theme in the process.
If you need help cracking today’s puzzle (or you just want to confirm your genius), I’ve got your back.
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Spoiler Alert: Answers ahead!
Today’s Theme
Theme: Play Ball!
Hint 1: It’s a team sport.
Hint 2: Professional athletes only.
Hint 3: Specifically, women’s teams.
Yep, today’s grid is a nod to the WNBA, the Women’s National Basketball Association. Even if you’re not a diehard basketball fan, you’ve probably heard of at least one or two of these teams—especially after Caitlin Clark’s recent entry into the league stirred up a media frenzy. (No, she’s not in the puzzle, but still worth noting.
First Two Letters Of Today’s Words
Still stuck? Here’s a list of the first two letters of each word:
Today’s Spangram
Spangram: BASKETBALL
The moment you find the word “basketball” stretching across the board, the rest of the puzzle starts making a lot more sense. Suddenly, STORM isn’t just bad weather—it’s a WNBA team. MERCURY? Not just a planet
Today’s Full Word List
Here are all the words hidden in today’s Strands puzzle:
- LYNX
- STORM
- FEVER
- MERCURY
- LIBERTY
- DREAM
- WINGS
Each of these is the name of a WNBA team. If you’re not familiar, here’s a quick rundown:
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Strands Strategy & Thoughts
Today’s puzzle might’ve stumped you if you’re not into women’s sports—or just haven’t heard of these team names before. I’ll admit, even after finding a couple of words like FEVER and DREAM, the theme didn’t click immediately for me. I mean, you could argue fever dream is a valid connection, right?
But once I stumbled upon the spangram BASKETBALL, it was like hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Everything fell into place after that. Suddenly, MERCURY wasn’t just a temperature readout, it was Phoenix’s finest. STORM? Definitely a team, not a thunderclap.
That’s the beauty of Strands—the “aha!” moment is half the fu
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Final Thoughts
Today’s Strands puzzle was a nice tribute to women in sports—specifically professional basketball. It’s great to see the NYT using this space to highlight topics like the WNBA, especially at a time when interest in women’s sports is on the rise.
