Today's Strands Sports Edition is live for Saturday, November 7, 2026 (Puzzle #18). 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: "With musical guest..."
What It Really Means
Look for athletes' surnames across basketball, American football, combat sports, and ice hockey.
Think About...
- Basketball stars from different eras.
- Football's pass-catching positions.
- Champions from the combat sports world.
Spangram Clues
Orientation: Left to right across the board
Letter Count: 17 letters
Starting Zone: Row 8, letter 6
Progressive Spangram Hints
Hint 1 (Gentle): Think about a television stage where an athlete can show a different side.
Hint 2 (Warmer): A sketch-comedy institution pairs a guest host with a musical performer.
Hint 3 (Almost There): First letter is S, last letter is E
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SATURDAYNIGHTLIVE
Word-by-Word Hints
Solve as many as you can before peeking. Each word includes escalating clues.
Word 1
Vague: A basketball legend known for soaring finishes.
Closer: The Chicago Bulls shooting guard synonymous with the Air brand.
Letter Clue: Starts with J, 6 letters total
Answer
JORDAN
Word 2
Vague: An American football star at tight end.
Closer: The Kansas City Chiefs tight end whose first name is Travis.
Letter Clue: Starts with K, 5 letters total
Answer
KELCE
Word 3
Vague: A combat sports champion with a background in judo.
Closer: The former UFC women's bantamweight champion famous for her armbar.
Letter Clue: Starts with R, 6 letters total
Answer
ROUSEY
Word 4
Vague: An ice hockey legend known for scoring and playmaking.
Closer: The Edmonton Oilers legend nicknamed the Great One.
Letter Clue: Starts with G, 7 letters total
Answer
GRETZKY
Word 5
Vague: A basketball point guard known for deft footwork in the paint.
Closer: The New York Knicks point guard whose first name is Jalen.
Letter Clue: Starts with B, 7 letters total
Answer
BRUNSON
Full Answers
Spangram: SATURDAYNIGHTLIVE
Theme Words:
- JORDAN
- KELCE
- ROUSEY
- GRETZKY
- BRUNSON
Puzzle Debrief
Difficulty Rating: Medium, with a television clue that asks you to search across several sports.
Trickiest Word: GRETZKY is the spelling hurdle, with its tight cluster of consonants making the name harder to trace even when you recognize it.
Our Take: The musical-guest prompt gives this sports puzzle a neat change of setting, and SATURDAYNIGHTLIVE makes that television connection explicit. JORDAN and BRUNSON offer basketball footholds, while KELCE, ROUSEY, and GRETZKY reward a broader sporting vocabulary.