Today's Strands Sports Edition is live for Wednesday, October 28, 2026 (Puzzle #8). 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: "Fly boys"
What It Really Means
“Fly boys” points to team names across American football, baseball, ice hockey, and basketball. Look for team identities rather than athletes or playing techniques.
Think About...
- Philadelphia's professional football scene.
- Toronto's place in Major League Baseball.
- Southern California's professional ice hockey scene.
Spangram Clues
Orientation: Left to right across the board
Letter Count: 7 letters
Starting Zone: Row 4, letter 1
Progressive Spangram Hints
Hint 1 (Gentle): Think of a cheer that could suit teams from different leagues.
Hint 2 (Warmer): Imagine cheering for teams whose mascots all have feathers.
Hint 3 (Almost There): First letter is G, last letter is S
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GOBIRDS
Word-by-Word Hints
Solve as many as you can before peeking. Each word includes escalating clues.
Word 1
Vague: An American football team from Pennsylvania.
Closer: Philadelphia's NFL team.
Letter Clue: Starts with E, 6 letters total
Answer
EAGLES
Word 2
Vague: A team name shared by professional baseball and American football franchises.
Closer: St. Louis's Major League Baseball team.
Letter Clue: Starts with C, 9 letters total
Answer
CARDINALS
Word 3
Vague: A Canadian team competing in Major League Baseball.
Closer: Toronto's Major League Baseball team.
Letter Clue: Starts with B, 8 letters total
Answer
BLUEJAYS
Word 4
Vague: An ice hockey team from Pennsylvania.
Closer: Pittsburgh's NHL team, associated with Mario Lemieux.
Letter Clue: Starts with P, 8 letters total
Answer
PENGUINS
Word 5
Vague: An ice hockey team from Southern California.
Closer: Anaheim's NHL team.
Letter Clue: Starts with D, 5 letters total
Answer
DUCKS
Word 6
Vague: A professional basketball team based in Georgia.
Closer: Atlanta's NBA team.
Letter Clue: Starts with H, 5 letters total
Answer
HAWKS
Full Answers
Spangram: GOBIRDS
Theme Words:
- EAGLES
- CARDINALS
- BLUEJAYS
- PENGUINS
- DUCKS
- HAWKS
Puzzle Debrief
Difficulty Rating: Medium, with the main challenge coming from switching between sports as you search for team names.
Trickiest Word: BLUEJAYS is my pick for the trickiest entry because the familiar team name normally appears as two words, while the grid joins them into a continuous string.
Our Take: GOBIRDS gives the team list a cheerful rallying cry, tying together names from different sports. PENGUINS adds a playful wrinkle to “Fly boys,” since its namesake cannot fly. That loose wording makes the theme more fun once the shared feathered identity clicks.