Connections: Sports Edition Game #782, for November 14, brings four sports categories together with a few cards that look like they belong elsewhere. The easiest foothold is on the ice; the trickiest set asks you to change a letter.
Start with the words that make a clean set, then resist the urge to group cards just because they look alike.
SPOILER WARNING: Answers and group titles are below. Stop here if you want to solve the board first.
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition words
Here are today’s 16 cards, in board order:
- AXEL | LENDEBORG | AARON | TALL
- SALCHOW | SHOHEI | GREEN | LUTZ
- NAYLOR | MOOKIE | YORDAN | CURRY
- HOOK | LOOP | HORFORD | TALKER
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition hints
Need a nudge? These clues point toward the kind of connection, not the answer:
- 🟡 Yellow: Four names for airborne moves share one discipline.
- 🟢 Green: Find the four cards that fit a single team-named category.
- 🔵 Blue: These familiar names belong together under a league-and-award clue.
- 🟣 Purple: The words in this set have each had their first letter changed.
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition group titles
- 🟡 Yellow: FIGURE SKATING JUMPS
- 🟢 Green: GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
- 🔵 Blue: AL MVPS, FAMILIARLY
- 🟣 Purple: NFL RBS, WITH THE FIRST LETTER CHANGED
What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?
Here are all four groups, from the easiest category to the hardest:
| Colour | Group | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 🟡 Yellow | FIGURE SKATING JUMPS | AXEL, LOOP, LUTZ, SALCHOW |
| 🟢 Green | GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS | CURRY, LENDEBORG, GREEN, HORFORD |
| 🔵 Blue | AL MVPS, FAMILIARLY | YORDAN, AARON, SHOHEI, MOOKIE |
| 🟣 Purple | NFL RBS, WITH THE FIRST LETTER CHANGED | NAYLOR, TALL, HOOK, TALKER |
Today’s Connections — expert analysis
The cleanest entry point is the skating-jump set: AXEL, LOOP, LUTZ and SALCHOW make a crisp four-card group. But HOOK is a useful decoy beside LOOP, while GREEN can initially read as a colour rather than part of the team-named group. The Warriors set also asks you to accept LENDEBORG and HORFORD alongside CURRY and GREEN.
Purple is the hardest category because the clue requires a transformation, not just a shared subject: the cards are NFL RBS with their first letters changed. TALL and TALKER may catch the eye as similar-looking words, but that resemblance alone does not define the set. The blue cards—YORDAN, AARON, SHOHEI and MOOKIE—are another name-based cluster, so the award-and-league wording is the key distinction.
If you’re stuck, spend your first safe guess on AXEL, LOOP, LUTZ and SALCHOW. That locks in the clearest set and leaves the name clusters and letter-change wordplay easier to assess.
Difficulty: 3.5/5 — the opening set is clear, but purple’s letter-change clue and the overlapping name clusters demand care.
Yesterday’s Connections: Sports Edition answers (Game #781)
Yesterday’s Game #781, from November 13, grouped cards by event segments, a Duke association, darts terms and a “CAL _____” pattern.
- 🟡 Yellow (PORTION OF A SPORTING EVENT): LAP, ROUND, PERIOD, QUARTER
- 🟢 Green (ASSOCIATED WITH DUKE): DURHAM, COACH K, CAMERON INDOOR, LAETTNER
- 🔵 Blue (DARTS TERMS): OCHE, BULL’S-EYE, NINE-DARTER, BIG FISH
- 🟣 Purple (CAL _____): RIPKEN, RALEIGH, GOLDEN BEARS, CLUTTERBUCK
What is Connections: Sports Edition?
Connections: Sports Edition is a free daily puzzle from The New York Times and The Athletic, launched in 2024. It uses the Connections format, with 16 cards to sort into four hidden groups of four, and every group is about sports.
The puzzle is played on The Athletic’s website and app.
How to play Connections: Sports Edition
- Find four cards that share a connection, then submit them as a group.
- Repeat until you find all four hidden groups of four. You have four mistakes allowed.
- Use the colour order as a difficulty guide: yellow is easiest and purple is hardest.
Past week’s Connections: Sports Edition answers
Missed a day? Full solutions from earlier this week, newest first.
Game #780 — November 12
- 🟡 A WESTERN CONFERENCE NBA PLAYER: SUN, LAKER, WARRIOR, ROCKET
- 🟢 TEAMS IN NEW YORK STATE: ORANGE, SABRES, LIBERTY, BILLS
- 🔵 PREMIER LEAGUE MANAGERS: EMERY, ROSE, LAMPARD, MOYES
- 🟣 _____BOARD: SURF, SKATE, WAKE, SNOW
Game #779 — November 11
- 🟡 VOLLEYBALL TERMS: DIG, SERVE, SET, SPIKE
- 🟢 A BIG 12 ATHLETE: JAYHAWK, COWBOY, BEAR, MOUNTAINEER
- 🔵 VIDEO GAME NAMESAKES: HAWK, SLATER, MADDEN, GRIFFEY
- 🟣 _____ HIT: LATE, BASE, INFIELD, CLUTCH
Game #778 — November 10
- 🟡 SLANG FOR ZERO: GOOSE EGG, DONUT, BAGEL, NIL
- 🟢 PEOPLE INVOLVED IN A CONTRACT NEGOTIATION: AGENT, GENERAL MANAGER, PLAYER, OWNER
- 🔵 MAC TEAM NICKNAMES: ZIPS, MINUTEMEN, CHIPPEWAS, BOBCATS
- 🟣 ENDS IN AN NFL TEAM, IN SINGULAR FORM: BEAGLE, MILLION, HANDKERCHIEF, PROGRAM
Game #777 — November 9
- 🟡 TOUCHDOWN: 6, TD, PAYDIRT, TUDDY
- 🟢 LOUISIANA TEAMS: PELICANS, SAINTS, RAGIN’ CAJUNS, GREEN WAVE
- 🔵 NEVER WON A SUPER BOWL: VIKINGS, FALCONS, TEXANS, BILLS
- 🟣 SEA_____: HAWKS, SON, BISCUIT, GULLS
Game #776 — November 8
- 🟡 NBA TEAMS, ON SCOREBOARDS: TOR, MEM, MIN, POR
- 🟢 SOCCER KICKS: GOAL, FREE, PENALTY, CORNER
- 🔵 JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS: TUTEN, STRANGE, HUNTER, LAWRENCE
- 🟣 OLYMPIC SPORTS, MINUS THE LAST LETTER: LUG, CURLIN, GOL, ARCHER
Game #775 — November 7
- 🟡 FOOTBALL DEFENSIVE STATISTICS: INTERCEPTION, SACK, TACKLE, HURRY
- 🟢 TEAMS IN ILLINOIS: ILLINOIS, NORTHWESTERN, FIRE, CUBS
- 🔵 ENGLAND WOMEN’S SOCCER PLAYERS: HEMP, MEAD, TOONE, JAMES
- 🟣 LAST FOUR CFP CHAMPIONSHIP GAME LOSERS: MIAMI, NOTRE DAME, WASHINGTON, TCU
More daily puzzle help from HashTechWave
- Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers
- Today’s NYT Strands hints, spangram and answers
- Today’s Wordle hints, clues and answer
- All of today’s NYT puzzle hints and answers
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What time does a new Connections: Sports Edition puzzle come out?
A new puzzle is released every day at midnight US Eastern Time on The Athletic’s website and app.
Is Connections: Sports Edition free to play?
Yes. Connections: Sports Edition is free to play on The Athletic’s website and in The Athletic app.
How is Connections: Sports Edition different from NYT Connections?
The rules are the same: find four groups of four among 16 cards with at most four mistakes. The difference is that every group in the Sports Edition is about sports, such as players, teams, leagues and terms.
Can I review answers to older puzzles?
Yes. We keep the past week of solutions on this page, newest first, plus a full breakdown of yesterday’s puzzle.
