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NYT Strands puzzle #717, for Wednesday, February 18, 2026, has the theme “Cold Competition.” Start with the hints below if you want to solve it yourself; the full answer list and spangram are farther down.
Hints for Strands #717
- Theme clue: Cold Competition. Parade also describes the theme as “Medal events.”
- Category hint: The spangram names a 12-letter category of sports played on ice or snow.
- Starting letters and lengths: B (7), C (7), H (6), L (4), and S (12).
Try the theme clue first, then use the category and word lengths to narrow the possibilities. The initials are a stronger nudge; the answers are below.
Answers for February 18
Spoiler warning: the spangram and all five theme words follow.
Spangram: WINTERSPORTS
Theme words: BOBSLED, CURLING, HOCKEY, LUGE, SNOWBOARDING.
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These answers cover sliding events such as bobsled and luge, ice sports such as curling and hockey, and snowboarding on snow. Wordhint, Parade, and Try Hard Guides list SNOWBOARDING; TechRadar and Forbes give the shorter variant SNOWBOARD.
How Strands hints work
On the reviewed Strands rules page, the board is a 6-by-8 grid. Connect adjacent letters horizontally, vertically, or diagonally to form a word; you may change direction, but cannot reuse a letter within one word. The spangram identifies the theme and touches two opposite sides of the board. Finding three valid non-theme words unlocks a hint that highlights a theme word. These mechanics are summarized from Strands.Game, a non-NYT rules page, rather than quoted from the official NYT game.
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About this puzzle’s answer sources
The accessible answer pages agree on the date, game number, theme, spangram, and most of the answer set. They differ on the final theme word: three list SNOWBOARDING, while two use SNOWBOARD. The official NYT game page was not accessible for verification, so the answer list above follows the better-supported SNOWBOARDING version.
Sources: Wordhint, Parade, Try Hard Guides, TechRadar, Forbes, and Strands.Game rules.
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