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Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one.  All of those initials were difficult to sort through. 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 own app. Or you can play it for free online.
Read more:Â 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: Hockey players.
Green group hint: Not the whole name.
Blue group hint: Colleges.
Purple group hint: Gridiron groups.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: A Western conference NHL player.
Green group: NBA player nicknames that are initialisms.
Blue group: ACC teams, abbreviated.
Purple group: Starts of NFL team names.
Read more: 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 Jan. 10, 2026.
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is a Western conference NHL player. The four answers are Canuck, Duck, King and Shark.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is NBA player nicknames that are initialisms. The four answers are AD, KD, LBJ and SGA.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is ACC teams, abbreviated. The four answers are FSU, ND, UNC and UVA.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is starts of NFL team names. The four answers are Bron (Broncos), Char (Chargers), Pack (Packers) and Pant (Panthers).
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