HIGHLIGHTS
- Today’s NYT Strands theme is ‘She’s Got Game,’ which means players need to find the names of WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) teams.
- The Spangram is 10 characters long, starting with “B” and ending with “L,” running vertically through the puzzle.
- LY, DR, WI, FE, SL, LI, and ME are the first two letters of the remaining words for today’s NYT Strands.
NYT Strands is part of The New York Times’ game library, where you must find and connect hidden words.
You must find hidden words by connecting adjacent letters to form complete words in Strands.
The themes change daily and are intentionally designed to be unclear, adding an extra layer of challenge.
She’s Got Game Meaning In The NYT Strands
Today’s NYT Strands theme is “She’s Got Game,” meaning you must identify eight hidden words related to the theme.

The game is designed to challenge you by using themes with multiple possible interpretations.
I tried searching for words in the grid that might be related to the theme. In this situation, the best approach would be to look for a spangram.
Every puzzle includes a spangram, a word that represents the theme and spans the board from one side to the other.

Today’s spangram is “Basketball,” beginning at the fourth word in the last row and ending at the fifth word in the first row.
After deciphering the spangram, I confirmed that the puzzle was related to women’s basketball and began looking for words associated with it.
All Answers For NYT Strands For May 17, 2025
To complete today’s puzzle and achieve a perfect score, you must highlight eight words, including the spangram.

Marking words that appear in the grid but are unthemed to the theme will contribute to the hint.
Access a hint after successfully marking three unthemed words, which will highlight the letters of one of the answers.
Basket, ball, tomb, and wing are some of the words you can use to get hints in today’s puzzle.

Here are all the words you’ll find in the NYT Strands for May 17, 2025:
- Lynx
- Dream
- Wings
- Fever
- Storm
- Liberty
- Mercury
All of these words have one thing in common: they are all professional women’s basketball teams in the WNBA.

Once you mark all the answers, you’ll complete today’s puzzle and wait until midnight for the next game.

