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Today’s Connections: Sports Edition isn’t too difficult, but the purple category might confuse you. If you’re having trouble solving today’s riddle but still want to solve it, read on for tips and answers.
Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the Times-owned subscription sports journalism site. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it online for free.
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: The other team.
Green group index: Oops !
Blue group index: Baseball teams, for short.
Purple group index: Hoopster nicknames.
Connections Group Answers: Today’s Sports Edition
Yellow group: Opponent.
Green Group: spoil.
Blue group: NL East teams, on the scoreboards.
Purple group: Nicknames of WNBA players.
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 20, 2026.
NYT/Screenshot by CNETYellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is the adversary. The four answers are challenger, enemy, adversary and rival.
Green words in today’s Connections
The theme is disorder. The four responses are sloppy, errant, missed and fumbles.
Blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is NL East teams, on the scoreboards. The four answers are ATL, MIA, NYM and PHI.
Purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is WNBA player nicknames. The four answers are KFC, Phee, Point Gawd and Stewie.
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