Today's Strands Sports Edition is live for Thursday, October 29, 2026 (Puzzle #9). 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: "Golden Staters"
What It Really Means
You're hunting for professional team names across several sports, including basketball, baseball, football, and soccer.
Think About...
- Look beyond men's basketball to the women's professional game.
- Think of baseball clubs and their ballparks.
- Leave room for women's professional soccer.
Spangram Clues
Orientation: Left to right across the board
Letter Count: 12 letters
Starting Zone: Row 7, letter 6
Progressive Spangram Hints
Hint 1 (Gentle): Their home territory supplies the connection.
Hint 2 (Warmer): Think of a collective name for people who call the Golden State home.
Hint 3 (Almost There): First letter is C, last letter is S
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CALIFORNIANS
Word-by-Word Hints
Solve as many as you can before peeking. Each word includes escalating clues.
Word 1
Vague: A women's professional basketball team with a name drawn from mythology.
Closer: The Golden State WNBA team that plays its home games in San Francisco.
Letter Clue: Starts with V, 9 letters total
Answer
VALKYRIES
Word 2
Vague: A men's professional basketball team with a battle-ready name.
Closer: The Golden State NBA team associated with Stephen Curry.
Letter Clue: Starts with W, 8 letters total
Answer
WARRIORS
Word 3
Vague: A baseball club whose name has a religious connection.
Closer: San Diego's Major League Baseball club, whose home is Petco Park.
Letter Clue: Starts with P, 6 letters total
Answer
PADRES
Word 4
Vague: An NFL team named for a horned animal.
Closer: The Los Angeles NFL team with curling horns on its helmets.
Letter Clue: Starts with R, 4 letters total
Answer
RAMS
Word 5
Vague: A professional team name fit for royalty.
Closer: Sacramento's NBA team, known for lighting a purple beam after wins.
Letter Clue: Starts with K, 5 letters total
Answer
KINGS
Word 6
Vague: A women's professional soccer team with an ocean-inspired name.
Closer: San Diego's NWSL club, with a name that evokes the nearby Pacific.
Letter Clue: Starts with W, 4 letters total
Answer
WAVE
Full Answers
Spangram: CALIFORNIANS
Theme Words:
- VALKYRIES
- WARRIORS
- PADRES
- RAMS
- KINGS
- WAVE
Puzzle Debrief
Difficulty Rating: Medium, with the challenge coming from switching between sports and recognizing the team names.
Trickiest Word: VALKYRIES is the likeliest sticking point because its mythological spelling is harder to reconstruct than the shorter, everyday words in the list.
Our Take: “Golden Staters” neatly invites a basketball-first reading, then CALIFORNIANS opens the search to teams across the state. The mix of VALKYRIES, PADRES, RAMS, and WAVE rewards a broader sports vocabulary and gives the theme a satisfying reach beyond the initial association.