Get excited—there's another New York Times game to add to your daily routine! For those who already dip their toes in the world of word games like Wordle, Connections, Strands, and the Mini Crossword, the latest addition is the Connections Sports Edition, adding some sporty spice to your daily brain workout.
Starting yesterday, on Monday, March 3, 2025, the Connections Sports Edition resets daily at 12 AM EST, presenting players with 16 different sports-related words. The objective remains the same: group four words together based on shared characteristics across four distinct categories, making it as entertaining as it is challenging.
This version, born from the collaboration between The New York Times and The Athletic, invites players to "group sports terms" known to share common threads. Players are not just engaging with random letters; they're pulling together sports vocabulary, making for fun and educational gameplay.
For those stumped by yesterday's puzzle, here's what the categories looked like:
- Yellow: NHL Teams
- Green: Words Used in MLB Stadium Names
- Blue: Tonys
- Purple: Seattle _____
The answers for Connections Sports Edition #161 featured:
- NHL Teams: AVALANCHE, FLYERS, PENGUINS, SHARKS
- Words Used in MLB Stadium Names: CENTRE, FIELD, PARK, STADIUM
- Tonys: GWYNN, HAWK, REALI, ROMO
- Seattle _____: KRAKEN, REIGN, SLEW, SUPERSONICS
Fast forward to today, March 4, 2025, and the spotlight shifts to the regular Connections puzzle marked as #632. The same format of 16 words is presented, with players grouped the words by assisting hints based on categories.
Today's hints commence with:
- Yellow: Words you might see in a makeup ad.
- Yellow: lookin’ good!
- Green: comb through it
- Blue: like Tiny Tim and Uriah
- Purple: only as strong as the weakest part
Players responding to the hinted categories revealed today’s actual groups would be:
- Yellow: adjectives for nice skin – (DEWY, FRESH, GLOWING, SMOOTH)
- Green: mess of hair – (MAT, MOP, TANGLE, THATCH)
- Blue: Dickens characters – (BUCKET, PIP, SCROOGE, TWIST)
- Purple: ____ chain – (DAISY, FOOD, MOUNTAIN, SUPPLY)
Many players relish these sharing opportunities, giving conversations around strategy and memory-building as players engage with the word puzzle day after day. The enduring nature of the NYT Games extends far beyond entertainment, tapping latent skills developed over the years of wordplay.
Meanwhile, if you happen to also be part of today’s Strands round which shares unique thematic ties, the current theme for Strands #365 is "A fungus among-us," with the vertical spangram revolving around MUSHROOMS. Hosted on the NYT site, it promises subtle connections much like those players navigate when strategizing connections.
The other theme words accompanying today's Strands game are: BUTTON, CREMINI, ENOKI, OYSTER, SHIITAKE, and TRUFFLE conjoining the central concept quite nicely.
Scheduling out how, when, and where you can engage with NYT Games is just as important. New puzzles debut at midnight local time daily; they’re accessible through the NYT website or the Games app. And for those other games striving for fun, NYT also permits selections beyond word-centric puzzles. You might explore viable choices per your interests including games like the Mini Crossword, Sudoku, Tiles, and Spelling Bee—all valued past the initial tiers of play.
So if you find the word puzzles testing your limits today, refresh your approach! Take time, enjoy each category, and play your best game. Whether you’re executing strategies during Connections or subbing those letters and terms through Wordle, it’s all part of nurturing daily brainpower. With each success, your skills only sharpen, proving rewarding not just through score but through the joy of solving your way through the word puzzles.
New rounds await; results can easily be shared on social media, proving the dynamic nature of NYT Games, creating not just challenges but connections as wells among friends and cohorts.