The dog days of summer are upon us. Sports bettors are now limited to soccer betting, MLB wagers and the occasional golf future. Luckily for sports junkies, there is a viral sensation out there to test our true fandom – the immaculate grid.
What is an Immaculate Grid?
This daily game is basically Wordle for sports fans. The original game was designed for baseball fans, but there are now grids for NBA, NHL and NFL enthusiasts.
The concept is simple: a three-by-three grid with logos and stats along the upper and left-hand sides. Your task is to fill out each square with an athlete who meets the criteria for both intersecting categories. For example, LeBron James might be your guess for the top/middle square in the grid below.
How to Play an Immaculate Grid
While the game is fairly self-explanatory, there are some rules to beware of before diving in.
First, you only get nine guesses. This means that one errant attempt will ruin your chance at a perfect grid. For this reason, hold off on risky picks that you aren’t sure about until later in the game, and get the sure-thing answers in first.
Second, you can’t use a player more than once. If you selected LeBron as the Lakers/Cavaliers player, you’d need to pick someone else who has played for the Lakers and been a 3x All-Star.
Be careful to read the rules on the site before you begin, because some sites have different ones than others. For example, the original Immaculate Grid site requires the athlete to have accomplished a feat with the corresponding team in order for that player to register as a successful guess. For example, Carmelo Anthony, a 10-time NBA All-Star, would not be accepted as a Laker/3x All-Star because none of his appearances were with Los Angeles.
Both active and inactive athletes are valid, so if you’re stumped you can call your Grandfather for a lifeline.
The player also needs to have played a game for said team. For example, newly traded Chris Paul wouldn’t count as someone that plays for the Golden State Warriors.
MLB grids are available at Immaculate Grid, NHL grids at Puckdoku, while NBA and NFL grids can be found at Crossover Grid.
Immaculate Grid Tips
Journeymen to Note
There’s nothing more frustrating than breezing through the first eight squares just to be stumped for the entire day on your last guess. To avoid hour-long grid sessions, we’ve compiled a list of the most traveled athletes from each league that you can use as a last-ditch guess.
| Player | League | # Teams |
|---|---|---|
| Edwin Jackson | MLB | 14 |
| Octavio Dotel | MLB | 13 |
| Rich Hill | MLB | 12 |
| Ish Smith | NBA | 13 |
| Jim Jackson | NBA | 12 |
| Chucky Brown | NBA | 12 |
| Mike Sillinger | NHL | 12 |
| Olli Jokinen | NHL | 10 |
| Lee Stempniak | NHL | 10 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick | NFL | 9 |
| Josh McCown | NFL | 9 |
| Brian Hoyer | NFL | 7 |
Stats – Keep it Simple
Our best advice when it comes to statistical feats is to pick the best player you can think of who played for that team. If you need a Patriots QB who threw 30 touchdowns in a season, don’t start trying to visualize Drew Bledsoe’s 1997 season game-by-game – just pick Tom Brady.
Sicko Score
If you’ve read to this point and are thinking “this game is much too easy for me”, then we introduce you to the “sicko score”, also known as the rarity score.
When you submit a correct player, the site will tell you what percentage of users chose that player as well. For example, Brady would likely accumulate over 90% of guesses for a Patriots/Buccaneers square.
This is where you get to show off your niche sports knowledge – the more obscure the player the better. Fill out the grid using the most under-the-radar athletes you can think of that satisfy the requirements for each square, and then add up the percentages when you’re done. If each of your nine athletes received 1% of the vote, your sicko score would be an elite 9%.
If your friend group is full of sports connoisseurs, add some spice to the grid craze by comparing sicko scores. The lowest score gets bragging rights until the grid resets in the morning.
