The latest New York Times Connections puzzle, specifically the Sports Edition for January 14th (#478), proved challenging for many players. This edition, published by The Athletic, tests pattern recognition across various sports terminology. Here’s a complete breakdown of the categories and solutions.
Puzzle Overview
This isn’t a standard NYT Games offering – it appears in The Athletic app (or online for free) but not within the main NYT Games platform. The puzzle requires identifying four groups of four words that share a common theme. The difficulty ramps up significantly with the purple category, often relying on wordplay.
Category Hints & Solutions
The puzzle is structured with escalating difficulty: yellow (easiest) to purple (hardest). Here’s how each category breaks down:
-
Yellow Category: Indianapolis Teams
- Words: Butler, Colts, Fever, Pacers
- The unifying theme is professional and college sports franchises based in Indianapolis, Indiana.
-
Green Category: Basketball Games
- Words: 21, Around the World, HORSE, Knockout
- These are all informal, streetball-style basketball games or shooting drills.
-
Blue Category: CFL Teams
- Words: Alouettes, Elks, Roughriders, Stampeders
- These are all teams from the Canadian Football League (CFL). The “Great White North” hint points directly to this category.
-
Purple Category: Homophones of Super Bowl MVPs
- Words: Breeze (Drew Brees), Cup (Cooper Kupp), Foals (Nick Foles), Swan (Lynn Swann)
- This is the trickiest grouping. The solution relies on recognizing that each word sounds like the name of a Super Bowl MVP.
Why This Puzzle Matters
Connections puzzles, even niche editions like this one, highlight the power of associative thinking. The Sports Edition specifically tests knowledge of various athletic leagues, terminology, and even obscure wordplay. These puzzles are designed to be engaging mental exercises that reward both sports knowledge and lateral thinking. They’re also a reminder that The Athletic has integrated itself into the NYT Games ecosystem, even if the experience isn’t entirely unified across platforms.
