Today's Strands Sports Edition is live for Saturday, November 14, 2026 (Puzzle #25). 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: "Up the chain"
What It Really Means
Look for terms that label teams and competition divisions across several sports, rather than names of athletes or events.
Think About...
- Team labels on a school athletics schedule.
- Division names on an ice hockey registration form.
- Competitive teams organized outside a school.
Spangram Clues
Orientation: Top to bottom down the board
Letter Count: 11 letters
Starting Zone: Row 1, letter 3
Progressive Spangram Hints
Hint 1 (Gentle): Think about where developing athletes get their start.
Hint 2 (Warmer): The umbrella term covers organized athletic competition for children and teenagers.
Hint 3 (Almost There): First letter is Y, last letter is S
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YOUTHSPORTS
Word-by-Word Hints
Solve as many as you can before peeking. Each word includes escalating clues.
Word 1
Vague: A division label for younger competitors.
Closer: A familiar children's football division label, also used in ice hockey, whose name suggests someone small.
Letter Clue: Starts with P, 6 letters total
Answer
PEEWEE
Word 2
Vague: An age-division name associated with youth ice hockey.
Closer: This traditional ice hockey division shares its name with a small chicken.
Letter Clue: Starts with B, 6 letters total
Answer
BANTAM
Word 3
Vague: The designation for a school's principal competitive team.
Closer: A school athlete can earn a letter by competing at this level.
Letter Clue: Starts with V, 7 letters total
Answer
VARSITY
Word 4
Vague: A team designation that suggests competition beyond the local league.
Closer: In baseball or softball, this team label signals trips to face opponents beyond the local circuit.
Letter Clue: Starts with T, 6 letters total
Answer
TRAVEL
Word 5
Vague: An organized sporting association that fields teams.
Closer: In soccer, this is the organization a player joins, which can field separate teams for different age groups.
Letter Clue: Starts with C, 4 letters total
Answer
CLUB
Word 6
Vague: A school team designation tied to an entering class.
Closer: A high school basketball squad reserved for students in their first year uses this designation.
Letter Clue: Starts with F, 8 letters total
Answer
FRESHMAN
Full Answers
Spangram: YOUTHSPORTS
Theme Words:
- PEEWEE
- BANTAM
- VARSITY
- TRAVEL
- CLUB
- FRESHMAN
Puzzle Debrief
Difficulty Rating: Medium, with a mix of age divisions, school designations, and team structures to connect.
Trickiest Word: BANTAM is the likeliest sticking point because its connection to an ice hockey age division requires more specific vocabulary than the school-team labels.
Our Take: “Up the chain” suggests a neat progression, but PEEWEE, BANTAM, VARSITY, TRAVEL, CLUB, and FRESHMAN mix age divisions with school designations and team structures. YOUTHSPORTS gives that varied list a satisfying home, even though the answers do not form a single ladder.