New York Times Launches Connections: Sports Edition Daily Puzzle Game

The New York Times has expanded its games portfolio with Connections: Sports Edition, a new daily puzzle developed by The Athletic that challenges players to identify thematic connections among sports-related words and concepts. The game operates on the same mechanics as the original Connections puzzle but applies sports knowledge as its organizing principle, requiring players to complete four groups of four items without making four mistakes.

How the Game Works

Connections: Sports Edition presents 16 words or phrases on a game board that players must sort into exactly four categories. Each category has a specific connection—whether thematic, semantic, or conceptual—that determines the grouping. The puzzle is solved by identifying all four groups without exceeding the maximum number of mistakes allowed.

The game assigns each category a color-coded difficulty rating. Yellow indicates the most straightforward connections, followed by green for medium challenges, blue for difficult puzzles, and purple for the trickiest categories. An example yellow category might be "Sports ____" with answers like Fan, Car, Bar, or Radio, while a purple category could require deeper knowledge of sports history or specialized terminology.

Creator and Development

Mark Cooper, who serves as a managing editor for college sports at The Athletic, created the puzzle format. Cooper previously worked as The Athletic's managing editor for breaking news before transitioning to the sports games division. The New York Times has positioned Connections: Sports Edition as The Athletic's first-ever game offering, expanding the suite of daily puzzles available to readers beyond the original Connections game and other established titles like Wordle and the Mini Crossword.

Game Features and Access

New puzzles become available daily at midnight in each player's time zone. Similar to other New York Times games, Connections: Sports Edition includes a scoring system and progress tracking. Players registered with The Times Games section can monitor their puzzle completion history, win rates, perfect score counts, and win streaks through the platform's analytics tools.

The puzzle joins a growing ecosystem of daily games offered by The New York Times, which now encompasses multiple formats designed to appeal to players with varying interests and expertise levels. The sports edition specifically targets fans seeking word puzzles that incorporate athletic knowledge and sports history.