New York Times Launches Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Game for Athletic Subscribers

The New York Times has introduced Connections: Sports Edition, a daily puzzle game designed for sports enthusiasts that challenges players to identify thematic links between 16 words across four distinct categories. The game, created by Mark Cooper—a managing editor for college sports at The Athletic—combines the logic-based gameplay of the original Connections puzzle with sports-specific terminology and references. Each puzzle requires players to group words into four categories of four items each without making more than four incorrect attempts.

How the Game Works

Players encounter 16 words on a game board and must determine which four items belong to each category. The puzzles feature varying difficulty levels, marked by colors from yellow (straightforward) to purple (most challenging). Each puzzle has exactly one correct solution, requiring players to distinguish between words that may appear to fit multiple categories. The game launches a new puzzle at midnight in each player's local time zone.

Recent puzzle examples illustrate the range of themes. One board included baseball roster positions (lineup, bench, rotation, bullpen), gym equipment (elliptical, medicine ball, rowing machine, treadmill), Philadelphia Phillies players (Marsh, Nola, Turner, Wheeler), and muscle nicknames paired with letters (flat, spec, squad, whammy). Another puzzle featured Asian rice varieties, gummy bear descriptors, savory pastries, and Disney characters with modified names.

Features and Community Integration

The Times Games section offers a dedicated bot similar to its Wordle analytics tool, allowing registered players to receive numeric scores and performance analysis. Players can track progress metrics including total puzzles completed, win rate, perfect score frequency, and current winning streaks. The game encourages community engagement through score sharing, creating opportunities for friendly competition among players. Multiple news outlets, including CNET and Forbes, publish daily hints and complete solutions for those seeking assistance.