This MLB puzzle ran on Oct 31, 2026. The task was to connect Barry Bonds to William Contreras with a chain of real players. The objective: “Your chain must include a player born in Germany.” Par was 4 links. A search of the full player pool found a shortest chain of 3 links.
Barry Bonds (OF) played in the MLB from 1986 to 2007. Career stops: the Pirates (1986 to 1992) and the Giants (1993 to 2007). Honors in the dataset: MVP. As the Start of the chain, a household name like this gives you a lot of teammates to branch from, which makes it a friendly place to begin.
William Contreras (C) played in the MLB from 2020 to 2026. Career stops: the Braves (2020 to 2022) and the Brewers (2023 to 2026). No college is on record for this player. As the Finish of the chain, a household name like this gives you a lot of teammates to branch from, which makes it a friendly place to begin.
Barry Bonds and William Contreras do not share a team or a college, so there is no direct link. You need at least one connector in between, and the objective decides which ones are allowed to count.
This was a birthplace objective. At least one player in the chain has to have been born in the named country. Of the 11,807 players in the pool, 20 satisfy it. The best known are Max Kepler (OF, 2015 to 2026), Edwin Jackson (SP, 2003 to 2019), Glenn Hubbard (2B, 1978 to 1989), Craig Lefferts (RP, 1983 to 1994), Brendan Donovan (3B, 2022 to 2026), and Mike Blowers (3B, 1989 to 1999).
2 of those players share a team or college with Barry Bonds, and 5 share one with William Contreras. The Start is the tighter side, so working forward from Barry Bonds narrows the options fastest.
One shortest chain found by searching the full player pool, preferring the best known names at every step:
Many other chains work. Scoring rewards lower-profile connectors, so the best-known route is rarely the highest scoring one.
Want more? Browse the full MLB puzzle archive, read the strategy guides, or see how scoring works on How to Play.