Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Editing Tips, Answers for January 24 #488

Here are tips and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition January 24, #488 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 are challenging, especially this purple group, which wants you to find hidden words in four of the puzzle words. 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: Slap!

Green group index: Collectibles.

Blue group index: The puck pros.

Purple group index: Throw it away.

Connections Group Answers: Today’s Sports Edition

Yellow group: Hit.

Green group: Sports memories.

Blue group: Former NHL teams, singular.

Purple group: Ends with a synonym for throwing.

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 24, 2026.

NYT/Screenshot by CNET

Yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is touched. The four responses are deck, punch, slug and strike.

Green words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports memorabilia. The four answers are an autograph, a jersey, a poster and a trading card.

Blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is that of former NHL teams, singular. The four answers are Coyote, Nordic, Thrasher and Whaler.

Purple words in today’s Connections

The theme ends with a synonym for throw. The four responses are blob, shuffling, surpass and chuck.


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