The Locker Room
Name the player from the teammates they shared a locker room with.
How to play The Locker Room
- Each day has one mystery player. You see the years they played and one of their real teammates, with the club and seasons they shared.
- Guess who it is: type any player. Every miss shows another teammate, up to six, each more famous than the last.
- A missed guess says whether that player was ever their teammate, and when. Six guesses; name them in fewer to rank higher.
Tips
- Start with the years. The span shown is the mystery player's whole career, which rules out anyone from a different era.
- Read every missed guess. It tells you whether that player was ever the mystery player's teammate, and when, so a smart miss can confirm a club and a season.
- The teammates come from the clubs where the player stayed two seasons or more, mostly the ones they stayed at longest, so a club that keeps coming up is probably their main team.
- The mystery players are stars, All-Stars and award winners from the last few decades, so think of the best-known player on that roster in those years.
Worked example: six Mariners and Reds
A real pre-launch baseball board: a mystery player whose career ran from 1989 to 2010, and six real teammates.
The teammates came in this order, least famous first:
| # | Teammate | Club and seasons together |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juan Castro | Cincinnati Reds, 2000-04 |
| 2 | Jay Buhner | Seattle Mariners, 1989-99 |
| 3 | Adam Dunn | Cincinnati Reds, 2001-08 |
| 4 | Randy Johnson | Seattle Mariners, 1989-98 |
| 5 | Edgar Martinez | Seattle Mariners, 1989-99 |
| 6 | Alex Rodriguez | Seattle Mariners, 1994-99 |
Clue one is the club, not the name. Juan Castro was a utility infielder, but “Reds, 2000-04” and a career from 1989 to 2010 already say a lot: a long career that reached Cincinnati late.
Clue two makes it a two-club story. Jay Buhner was a Mariner for the whole of 1989-99. A player who debuted with Seattle in 1989, stayed through the ’90s, then went to the Reds in 2000: that is Ken Griffey Jr.
A miss still helps. Guess Barry Larkin (a Red for all of 2000-04) and the board says “Teammates: Cincinnati Reds 2000-04”. That doesn’t solve it, but it confirms the Reds years. By the fourth teammate (Randy Johnson) most fans have it. The last one, Alex Rodriguez, is only there in case you’re still stuck.
Questions
- Who are the mystery players?
- Stars: All-Stars in baseball, All-Stars and All-NBA players in basketball, Pro Bowl quarterbacks, backs, receivers and tight ends in football, NHL All-Star Team picks, award winners and Hall of Famers in hockey, and Ballon d'Or winners, FIFPRO World 11 picks and Champions League winners in soccer, all from the last few decades.
- What counts as a teammate?
- The same as in Teammate Chain: two players on the same club in the same regular season. In soccer that means the same club in one of Europe's top five leagues, so national teams don't count.
- How are the teammates picked?
- From every club the player stayed at for two seasons or more, more of them from the clubs they stayed at longest, and the ones they shared the most seasons with. They show least famous first, so the sixth is usually the star they're best remembered beside.
- When does a new puzzle come out?
- Every day at midnight Pacific time. Everyone in the world gets the same puzzle, so you can compare results with friends.
- Can I play past puzzles?
- Yes. Every past day is in the archive. Sign in with a free account to play the last 7 days, or go Premium for every past puzzle. Archive games don't count toward your streak or the daily leaderboard. Replay a day as often as you like: the archive keeps your best score.
Something else on your mind?