Here are tips and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition January 1, #465 puzzle.
Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, CNET editor-in-chief, journalist and pop culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” She has been a journalist since 1989 and works for Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and NBC News Digital. She is part of Generation X in terms of date of birth, words and deeds. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line.
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Today’s Connections: Sports Edition includes a fun mix of topics, especially if you’re from the City of Brotherly Love. If you’re having trouble but still want to resolve it, read on for tips and answers.
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Learn more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle exits beta
Tips for Connections Groups: Sports Today’s Edition
Here are four clues for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ordered from the easiest yellow group to the difficult (and sometimes weird) purple group.
Yellow group index: Defensive movement in the hoops.
Green group index: Alma mother.
Blue group index: Come on birds.
Purple group index: Not five, not seven.
Connections Group Answers: Today’s Sports Edition
Yellow group: Try to stop a basketball shot.
Green group: Locations of College Football Playoff teams.
Blue group: First names of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Purple group: ____ six.
Learn more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are the answers from today’s Connections: Sports Edition?
The NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle completed by January 1, 2026.
NYT/Screenshot by CNETYellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is trying to stop a basketball shot. The four responses are challenge, close, contest, and defend.
Green words in today’s Connections
The theme is the location of the College Football Playoff teams. The four answers are Athens, Bloomington, Eugene and Oxford.
Blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is the first names of the Philadelphia Eagles. The four answers are Cooper, Dallas, Jalen and Saquon.
Purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is ____ six. The four answers are kick, New Year, original and pick.
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