The Athletic last week announced the launch of Strands: Sports Edition, a new sports-themed daily word search game crafted in collaboration with New York Times Games.
Strands: Sports Edition is a sports-centric spin off of New York Times Games’ popular daily puzzle, Strands — which had over 1.5 billion solves in 2025 — and follows the success of The Athletic’s first daily sports puzzle, Connections: Sports Edition.
Written by The Athletic’s Zack Pierce, Mark Cooper and Oskar Garcia, the game challenges players to find hidden sports-themed terms within a 6x8 grid of letters to fill the board and uncover the day’s theme, added the publisher. Each game includes a challenge word called the “spangram” that touches two opposite sides of the board. Players can find nontheme words to earn hints.
“We love how much this edition of Strands challenges sports fans to think about the games they love in new ways,” said Oskar Garcia, an editorial director at The Athletic. “Yes, it’s about searching for words, but it also combines elements of trivia and logic to figure out exactly the right combination of terms to unlock each handcrafted grid. The expertise of the New York Times Games team gives us a proven format, and the expertise we bring from The Athletic channels that toward a fresh look at the rich world of sports. It fits incredibly well alongside Connections: Sports Edition and the rest of our offerings for all sports fans.”
Sports fans and puzzle solvers alike are invited to play Strands: Sports Edition online or on The Athletic app. A subscription is not required to play, and a new sports puzzle will be released daily at midnight local time, the publisher continued.
Each year, The Athletic produces comprehensive guides and rankings, including Mike Sando’s annual N.F.L. Quarterback Tiers, Dane Brugler’s “The Beast” N.F.L. Draft Guide, Keith Law’s Top 100 MLB prospects rankings and more.
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