Today's Strands Sports Edition is live for Monday, November 2, 2026 (Puzzle #13). Stuck on today's Strands Sports Edition? We've got progressive hints, from gentle nudges to full solutions, so you can solve at your own pace.
How Strands Sports Edition Works (New Players Start Here)
Strands Sports Edition is the free daily sports word search from The Athletic and NYT Games. It hides sports-themed words inside a 6x8 letter grid. Your mission: find every word connected to the day's theme. Letters link in any direction (horizontal, vertical, diagonal) and words can twist and turn. Every letter gets used exactly once.
The spangram is the key word or phrase that captures the theme and stretches across the entire board, touching two opposite sides.
Need a boost? Every three non-theme words you find (four letters or longer) earn a hint that highlights the letters of a theme word. A new puzzle arrives every day at midnight local time.
Theme Decoder
Today's Theme Prompt: "Cast away"
What It Really Means
The sport is angling, and you're hunting for fish names. Read “Cast away” as a sporting clue about a rod and line.
Think About...
- Cold streams and the species that thrive in them.
- Freshwater tournament targets.
- Small pond catches taken from the bank.
Spangram Clues
Orientation: Left to right across the board
Letter Count: 11 letters
Starting Zone: Row 7, letter 1
Progressive Spangram Hints
Hint 1 (Gentle): Think of a short message explaining someone's absence.
Hint 2 (Warmer): It's the sort of sign someone leaves after swapping their desk for a rod and a spot beside the water.
Hint 3 (Almost There): First letter is G, last letter is G
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GONEFISHING
Word-by-Word Hints
Solve as many as you can before peeking. Each word includes escalating clues.
Word 1
Vague: A cold-water quarry for fly anglers.
Closer: Rainbow and brown are familiar varieties of this stream catch.
Letter Clue: Starts with T, 5 letters total
Answer
TROUT
Word 2
Vague: A freshwater predator targeted in competitive angling.
Closer: Largemouth and smallmouth are familiar targets carrying this name.
Letter Clue: Starts with B, 4 letters total
Answer
BASS
Word 3
Vague: A migratory catch associated with powerful river runs.
Closer: Chinook and sockeye belong to this group, known for returning from the sea to spawn in rivers.
Letter Clue: Starts with S, 6 letters total
Answer
SALMON
Word 4
Vague: A small, deep-bodied freshwater catch often taken on light tackle.
Closer: Look for a small pond fish with a dark flap at the rear of its gill cover.
Letter Clue: Starts with B, 8 letters total
Answer
BLUEGILL
Word 5
Vague: A toothy freshwater target suited to dim conditions.
Closer: Its reflective eyes help it hunt in low light and provide the clue to its name.
Letter Clue: Starts with W, 7 letters total
Answer
WALLEYE
Word 6
Vague: A broad freshwater group that gives pond anglers plenty of small catches.
Closer: Pumpkinseed belongs to this freshwater family, whose name pairs a daytime celestial body with an aquatic animal.
Letter Clue: Starts with S, 7 letters total
Answer
SUNFISH
Full Answers
Spangram: GONEFISHING
Theme Words:
- TROUT
- BASS
- SALMON
- BLUEGILL
- WALLEYE
- SUNFISH
Puzzle Debrief
Difficulty Rating: Medium, with a clear angling theme and a vocabulary test in the more specific catches.
Trickiest Word: WALLEYE gets the nod because its name offers less immediate help than the familiar TROUT or SALMON. The doubled L also gives you a spelling detail to track through the grid.
Our Take: “Cast away” gives the puzzle a neat verbal hook, and GONEFISHING turns it into a recognizable out-of-office message. TROUT, BASS, and SALMON offer accessible entry points, while BLUEGILL and WALLEYE bring more specific angling vocabulary into the net.