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Today’s Connections: Sports Edition has a real mix of categories, including one that’s all about a certain famous athlete. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.
Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s app. Or you can play it for free online.
NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta
Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Swing away!
Green group hint: What’s that on your bat?
Blue group hint: Catch the football.
Purple group hint: Lake Placid or Lillehammer.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Baseball bat materials.
Green group: Associated with George Brett.
Blue group: NFL rookie WRs.
Purple group: Olympic ____.
Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?
The completed NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Dec. 25, 2025.
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is baseball bat materials. The four answers are aluminum, ash, birch and maple.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is associated with George Brett. The four answers are 5, pine tar, Royals and third base.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is NFL rookie WRs. The four answers are Burden, Egbuka, Golden and McMillan.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is Olympic ____. The four answers are Games, rings, torch and village.
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Toughest Connections: Sports Edition categories
The Connections: Sports Edition puzzle can be tough, but it really depends on which sports you know the most about. My husband aces anything having to do with Formula 1, my best friend is a hockey buff, and I can answer any question about Minnesota teams.
That said, it’s hard to pick the toughest Connections categories, but here are some I found exceptionally mind-blowing recently.
#1: Series A Clubs, Jan. 11. Answers: Atalanta, Juventus, Lazio, Roma.
#2: WNBA MVPs, Jan. 21. Answers: Catchings, Delle Donne, Fowles and Stewart.
#3: Premier League team nicknames, Jan. 17. Answers: Bees, Cherries, Foxes and Hammers.
#4: Homophones of NBA player names, Jan. 26. Answers: Barns, Connect, Heart and Hero.
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