You’re stuck again. It’s May 14. The puzzle feels sharp, mean even. Don’t look here if you want the clean victory, the unbroken chain of logic leading to the purple square. But if your brain is humming a wrong note, keep reading. The hints are down there. So are the answers.
Where to Play
First things first. This isn’t the standard Connections puzzle in your NYTimes app. Not quite. It lives with The Athletic. Owned by The Times, sure, but its own beast. You play it on their app, or just free online. It used to be beta. Now it’s real. Does that make it harder? Sometimes. It makes it niche.
Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out Of Beta
Hints Before the Pain
Rank them if you like. Yellow is usually the mercy round. Purple? That’s where you go to cry. Or to laugh, depending on how much baseball trivia you’ve ingested recently.
- Yellow hint: Time to fight
- Green hint: Down the court
- Blue hint: Fore!
- Purple hint: The O’s
Simple. Or maybe deceptive. Which is the point.
The Answers
Let’s unmask the groups. Yellow was easy, right? Or at least it felt that way. Combat sports took the floor. Boxing, judo, taekwando, wrestling. No punches thrown here. Literally, mostly.
Green got a bit technical. Types of basketball passes. Baseball, bounce, chest, overhead. If you didn’t play ball as a kid, those terms blur. They blur into the blue group.
Blue is LPGA. Not players, but the acronym. Ladies, Professional, Golf, Association. Split it up. That’s the trick.
And purple. Members of the Baltimore Orioles. Alonso, Baz, Beavers, Mayo. Names only. If you aren’t tracking the American League, good luck. Good luck.
Why It Hurts
The difficulty is personal. Your husband? He aces Formula 1. Easy for him. My friend breathes hockey air. I live and die by Minnesota team stats.
Some categories are just mean. Truly mean. Like these mind-blowers from the past:
- Serie A Clubs : Atalanta, Juventus, Lazio, Rome
- WNBA MVPs : Catchings, Delle Donne Fowles, Stewart
- Premier League nicknames : Bees, Cherries Foxes, Hammers
Who thinks about team nicknames on a Tuesday morning? You do. Because the puzzle makes you.
It leaves you thinking about next time. What obscure trivia will they throw at you then? The answer is always out there, hidden in the noise. Waiting for someone who reads too much, or perhaps just the right thing.
