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Today’s puzzle is hard. The Sports Edition usually is, but this one feels especially mean. You want the answer but don’t want to cheat? Good luck. We’ve got hints below. And then the answers, obviously.
The Sports Edition doesn’t live in the NYT app. It’s owned by The Athletic, so it’s in their app or online for free. It feels different there. More niche.
“Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one.”
Here is how to break it down. The yellow group is the easiest, the purple is the trap.
Hints First
If you look too deep at the sports jargon you might miss the plain English meaning. The groups range from simple to weird.
- Yellow : Think about what happens in hoop land.
- Green : Look up. At the ceiling, basically.
- Blue : Baseball awards. Specific ones, not just any trophy.
- Purple : Movie titles involving football. Specifically the first words.
The Answers
Did you get the yellow group right? You probably should have. It’s just things you do with a basketball.
- Dribble
- Pass
- Pivot
- Shoot
These are standard actions. No trick there. Just basic ball handling.
Now look at the green group. These are objects found high up in a sports arena.
- Banners
- Catwalk
- Lights
- Speakers
They hang over the court or field. You don’t interact with them unless you’re a janitor or a player reaching for the sky.
The blue group gets trickier. It’s about baseball players. Not just good ones, but champions of a specific kind. World Series MVPs, to be precise.
- Dent (Cal)
- Knight (Larry)
- Springer (George)
- Viola (Corey)
These names pop up when someone asks who saved a World Series.
The purple group is where most people fail. You expect sports terms. You get movies instead. They are football films. Just take the first word of the title.
- Friday (Friday Night Lights)
- Gridiron (Gridiron Gang)
- Remember (Remember the Titans)
- Varsity (Varsity Blues)
See what you did there? You looked for “Gridiron” as a concept and not a title. You assumed it was related to the green or yellow groups. It wasn’t.
There you go. Another puzzle done. Until tomorrow, I suppose. 🏀
