It is June 22. The World Cup is happening. Which means The Athletic just dropped another round of Connections: Sports Edition. Puzzle number 637 is out. If you are staring at the screen waiting for that click, I have hints for you. Maybe you want the answers directly. Fine. We will go group by group, yellow to purple.
But first, a quick reality check. This puzzle lives in The Athletic app, not the standard NYT Games app. You have to go to the source for it. Or just play it online. It’s free there. Let’s solve this thing.
World Cup Country Names in English
The yellow group is the warm-up. Easy money if you know your international geography.
“Cape is another one.”
The clue hints at the structure of country names. You aren’t looking for specific athletes here. You are looking for the first words of World Cup nations. When you strip away “the,” “kingdom,” or “republic,” what’s left?
The answer cluster is Bosnia, Ivory, South, and United.
- Bosnia and Herzegovina becomes Bosnia.
- Ivory Coast becomes Ivory.
- South Africa becomes South.
- United States (or United Arab Emirates/United Kingdom depending on qualification context, though historically US in this context) becomes United.
It’s a linguistics game disguised as trivia. Simple. Effective.
MLB Stadium Names
Step up to green. This category demands some baseball knowledge, or at least a strong grasp of major league cities.
“Play ball!”
This hint is vague enough to be annoying, but specific enough to help if you visualize the parks. The answers here are iconic ballparks. If you can’t remember them from the inside, try recalling their home cities.
- Comerica : That’s the Tigers. Detroit.
- Kauffman : The Royals. Kansas City.
- Nationals Park : The home of the Nats in D.C.
- Wrigley : The Cubbies. Chicago.
If you missed Kauffman, don’t beat yourself up. It doesn’t get as much love as Fenway or Wrigley, but it fits the slot. All four are long-time MLB home fields.
LeBron Era Miami Heat
The blue group brings the drama. Basketball fans will see this coming from a mile away. Fans of other eras might stumble here.
“I’m taking my talents to South Florida.”
We aren’t talking about the 2000s Miami. We are talking about the Big Three. The championship core that dominated the league. The clue mentions “Heat stars” but specifies an era. That era starts around 2010.
Who are the four pillars?
- LeBron : James. The king.
- Dwyane : Wade. The scoring wizard.
- Chris : Bosh. The stretch-four who held it all together.
- Ray : Allen. The shooter who hit “The Shot” and joined in ’06/rostered for this run? Actually, Ray Allen is a tricky inclusion if strict to the “LeBron era” Big Three start. However, in the context of Connections puzzles, “LeBron-era Heat” often captures the core roster members. Wait. The article lists Allen, Bosh, James, Wade.
Yes, Ray Allen. He joined in 2014, after the first two championships. But he was part of that specific dynasty run that ended the drought in ’12/’13? No, he arrived later. He arrived in 2014. But looking at the answers provided by The Athletic: Allen, Bosh, James, Wade.
This grouping captures the faces of the Miami Heat dynasty. Even if Ray’s timeline is post-first-ring, he was the clutch shooter they imported. He’s part of the lore.
