Sports Puzzle Day: A Quick Guide to the Latest Connections Game

The new Connections game is all about sports. It shows up on The Athletic’s site, not in the NYT Games app. Players can try it for free online or through The Athletic’s own app. The puzzle has four groups of words. Each group is linked by a simple idea. The clues are given in colors from easiest to hardest: yellow, green, blue, and purple. The yellow set is about Pittsburgh. The words you need are Panther, Penguin, Pirate, and Steeler. Think of the city’s teams or nicknames. The green group comes from baseball scoreboards. The words are count, inning, outs, and score. These terms pop up on every MLB game screen.The blue cluster is about women’s hockey. The teams that made the playoffs in the PWHL are Charge, Fleet, Frost, and Victoire. Notice how each name sounds strong. The hardest purple group is about horse racing champions. The Triple Crown winners are Affi­red, Citation, Justify, and Whirlaway. These famous horses won all three major races in a single year. If you’re stuck, remember the color order: start with Pittsburgh for yellow, then baseball for green, women’s hockey for blue, and finish with the horse racing legends in purple. Each set fits together neatly once you see the theme.