There’s Now an NYT Connections Game for Sports

Traditionally, word games (like crosswords) and sports coverage have occupied entirely different pages and sections of the newspaper. But the New York Times is now combining both concepts with a sports-themed version of their Connections game, called simply Connections: Sports Edition.

(Beware: below are some spoilery descriptions of the October 4 edition of the puzzle.) 

The rules are the same as for the regular Connections game (speaking of which, you can read our daily hints for Connections here). There are 16 words or phrases on the board, forming four groups of four. While some words could conceivably belong to more than one group, there is only one way each day to divvy them up as the game designer envisioned. 

I am good at regular Connections, but useless when it comes to sports trivia. How sports-y is this game going to be? Well, I lost today’s game and expect to lose tomorrow, which is arguably sportslike in the sense that now I know how the Pirates must constantly feel.

Without giving away the whole thing, I’ll describe the types of categories that were in today’s game: 

• Team names that all share a theme (as in, the names are similar to each other; you don’t have to know anything about what sports they are from or how their players have been performing)
• Synonyms for a sports-related verb
• Four first names of players who all share the same last name
• Personalities on a sports-themed TV show

So, do you need to know exactly what’s been going on in the sports world? Not really. But should you have a passing familiarity with the names of teams, players, and commentators? Yes, for sure. 

Here are some more (actual!) categories from previous days’ puzzles: 

• Game with no stakes (EXHIBITION, FRIENDLY, SCRIMMAGE, WARMUP)
• Tennis shots (BACKHAND, DROP, SLICE, SMASH)
• Big Ten Nicknames (BADGERS, BOILERMAKERS, BUCKEYES, HOOSIERS)
• Former MLB Teams (BROWNS, EXPOS, PILOTS, SENATORS)
• Bar games (DARTS, FOOSBALL, JENGA, SHUFFLEBOARD)
• Basketball shots (DUNK, FLOATER, JUMPER, LAYUP)
• Golf equipment (CART, CLUB, GLOVE, TEE)
• A swimmer’s needs (CAP, GOGGLES, POOL, SUIT)

Connections: Sports Edition is in beta, meaning we can expect it to live on the NYT website while they tweak the details and gauge its popularity. If successful, it could move into the pantheon (and Games app) alongside Wordle, Strands, Connections, and Spelling Bee. If not, it could disappear forever—so play it while you can.