If you are feeling stuck on today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, you aren’t alone. Unlike the standard daily puzzle found in the NYT Games app, this version is published by The Athletic —the sports-centric subscription service owned by The New York Times. Because it focuses specifically on athletic themes, the difficulty often hinges on how much niche sports knowledge a player possesses.
Below are hints and full solutions to help you navigate today’s categories, ranging from the straightforward to the highly specific.
🧩 Hints for Today’s Groups
If you want to try solving the puzzle yourself before seeing the answers, use these progressive hints:
- Yellow (Easiest): Refers to being at the very bottom or in the lowest position.
- Green: These are abbreviations for NBA teams found on scoreboards.
- Blue: A group of legendary hockey goaltenders found in the Hall of Fame.
- Purple (Hardest): A collection of titles related to baseball video games.
✅ Today’s Answers
If you are ready to see the completed grid, here are the four groupings for April 25:
Yellow: In the lowest position
- Bottom
- Cellar
- Last
- Worst
Green: NBA teams (Scoreboard abbreviations)
- DEN (Denver Nuggets)
- OKC (Oklahoma City Thunder)
- SAC (Sacramento Kings)
- WAS (Washington Wizards)
Blue: Hall of Fame hockey goaltenders
- Brodeur
- Fuhr
- Parent
- Roy
Purple: Baseball video games
- Backyard
- High Heat
- Slugfest
- The Show
💡 Why This Puzzle Can Be Challenging
The difficulty in Connections: Sports Edition is subjective. While a standard NYT Connections puzzle relies on wordplay and synonyms, this edition tests domain-specific knowledge.
Success depends entirely on your “sports literacy.” For example, a player who follows professional hockey will find the Blue category trivial, whereas a casual observer might struggle to identify the names. This creates a unique dynamic where the “difficulty” isn’t just about the complexity of the words, but about the depth of the reader’s interest in specific leagues or eras of play.
Past puzzles have demonstrated this trend with categories involving:
* Serie A Football Clubs (Atalanta, Juventus, Lazio, Roma)
* WNBA MVPs (Catchings, Delle Donne, Fowles, Stewart)
* Premier League Nicknames (Bees, Cherries, Foxes, Hammers)
Summary: Today’s puzzle requires a blend of general vocabulary and specific knowledge of the NBA, NHL, and gaming culture to achieve a perfect score.
