Hints
Today’s Connections (Sports Edition) is a fun one if you like sports trivia and movie trivia crossing wires. The puzzle groups feel “recognizable” once you know what to look for—especially the categories that borrow phrasing from real-world sports branding and stadium life. If it’s been giving you trouble, here are the category clues in spoiler-light form.
Yellow group (easiest): Shoe brands that show up in everyday sports talk. Think footwear manufacturers with names you’d recognize from commercials or team gear.
Green group: Golf courses that have hosted—or have been associated with hosting—an American Open. These are the kinds of courses that get mentioned whenever U.S. Open history comes up.
Blue group: Famous MLB team nicknames. Some are instantly iconic, while others rely on the kind of nickname fans use in headlines and old broadcasts.
Purple group (toughest): Movie titles that include an NFL team name. This category leans “film nerd + sports nerd,” because the trick is spotting the team name embedded in the title.
Answers
Yellow: Sneaker brands — Converse, New Balance, Saucony, Under Armour
Green: Golf courses to host the U.S. Open — Pebble Beach, Shinnecock Hills, Torrey Pines, Winged Foot
Blue: Famous nicknames for MLB teams — Amazin’ Mets, Big Red Machine, Gas House Gang, Murderers’ Row
Purple: Movies that contain an NFL team name — Little Giants, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Remember the Titans, The Bad News Bears
If you’re solving one of these sports-themed Connections puzzles, a good tactic is to start by scanning for “language cues” that repeat across options. Nicknames often share a structure, golf-course answers tend to sound like real venue names, and the purple movie set practically begs you to look for embedded team names.
