NYT Connections: Sports Edition asks you to sort 16 sports-related words into four groups of four. Select a set of four tiles and submit it; solve all four groups before making four mistakes to finish the puzzle.
How to play Connections: Sports Edition
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Open the game on the NYT Games website, at NYTimes.com/The Athletic, in The Athletic app, or in the NYT News app. The New York Times Help Center lists these as access routes for Sports Edition.
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Look over the 16 tiles. Find four words that share a connection, then select all four and submit your group.
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If the group is correct, those tiles are removed and the category is revealed. If it is wrong, you use one mistake.
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Repeat with the remaining tiles until you have found all four groups or used all four mistakes.
What counts as a connection?
A group is made up of four words linked by a shared idea. Sports knowledge can help, but the connection is not necessarily a simple team, athlete, or sport category; it may involve a shared fact or phrase. The New York Times Help Center says each puzzle has one intended solution, while acknowledging that words are deliberately chosen to seem like they could fit more than one category. That overlap is part of the challenge.
Rank #2
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How mistakes and colors work
You have four mistakes available. A wrong submission uses one, so do not submit a set just because two or three tiles seem related: make sure you can explain how all four belong together.
Once a group is solved, its color indicates relative difficulty: yellow is easiest and purple is trickiest, according to the Help Center. Colors are revealed with solved groups; they are not clues that identify the unsolved groups.
Rank #3
- A One‑of‑a‑Kind Baseball Game --- a baseball contest where dice rolls decide the winner. Enjoy a totally different baseball‑game experience. Here, kids can beat adults. No one is guaranteed the final victory. Still, everyone gets to have great baseball‑themed fun.
- A Must‑Have Game for Baseball Fans --- Great if you love baseball or want to learn about the sport! Whether you are a beginner looking to get into baseball, or searching for an interactive game to enjoy with fellow baseball enthusiasts, this game is an essential pick for your baseball journey.
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Ways to approach a tricky board
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Look for a complete four-word explanation, not just a tempting pair or trio. The game is designed to include plausible overlaps.
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When a group is revealed, use its category and removed words to reconsider the remaining tiles. A word that seemed to fit that group may have another intended role.
Rank #4
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If you are unsure, pause before submitting. This is a practical way to protect your limited mistakes, not a guaranteed solving method.
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When the daily puzzle is available
The New York Times Help Center says Connections releases daily at midnight in the player’s local timezone and is free to play. It also says Sports Edition does not have an archive, so do not assume you can return to earlier Sports puzzles through an archive. Related features such as Connections Bot and the full archive may require qualifying subscriptions.
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