If you are stuck on today’s edition of Connections: Sports Edition, you aren’t alone. Today’s puzzle features a unique visual layout, with clues like “A’s,” “B’s,” and “C’s” that can make the grid appear unusual at first glance.
For those looking to solve the puzzle themselves, hints are provided below. If you are ready to see the solutions, the full answer key follows.
💡 Hints for Today’s Groups
To help you navigate the logic of the puzzle without giving everything away, here are four progressive hints ranging from the easiest to the most difficult category:
- Yellow (Easiest): Golden State sports teams.
- Green: Teams from “Beantown.”
- Blue: Related to a famous sporting miracle.
- Purple (Hardest): Events involving long-distance running.
✅ Today’s Answers
If you’ve given up or simply want to check your work, here are the official groupings for April 20:
Yellow: California Baseball Teams
- A’s
- Angels
- Giants
- Padres
Green: Shortened Nicknames for Boston Teams
- B’s
- C’s
- Pats
- Sox
Blue: Associated with the “Miracle on Ice”
- 1980
- Brooks
- Hockey
- Lake Placid
Purple: World Marathon Majors
- Berlin
- Boston
- Chicago
- Tokyo
🧠 Tips for Mastering Sports Connections
The Connections: Sports Edition —published by The Athletic —is designed to be more niche than the standard NYT version. Because it focuses on sports journalism, it relies heavily on specific terminology and historical context. To improve your score, keep these strategies in mind:
- Beware of “Double Meanings”: The puzzle frequently uses words that function as both common nouns and athlete surnames. For example, a word like “Hurts” might look like a verb, but in this context, it likely refers to a specific player.
- Look Beyond the Obvious: Don’t rush to pick the first group you see. A word might fit into a simple category (like “scoring terms”) but actually belong to a more complex group (like “pro football players”).
- Context is Key: In sports puzzles, abbreviations and nicknames (like “Pats” or “A’s”) are common traps. Always check if a group of short words forms a cohesive theme, such as city-specific nicknames.
Note on Access: While similar to the NYT Games app, Connections: Sports Edition is hosted within The Athletic’s ecosystem. It is available via their app or can be played for free online.
Summary: Today’s puzzle challenges players to navigate through baseball nicknames, Boston sports lore, Olympic history, and global marathon circuits. Success requires looking past the literal meaning of words to find their specific athletic connections.
