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Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a mix of a little bit of everything. It helps if basketball is your game. 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: 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: Don’t keep playing!
Green group hint: Smash that basketball.
Blue group hint: Hoopster winners.
Purple group hint: Goldy Gopher is another one.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Signal for play to stop.
Green group: Dunks.
Blue group: NBA 3-point contest winners.
Purple group: College mascots.
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 Feb. 14, 2026.
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is signal for play to stop. The four answers are buzzer, horn, siren and whistle.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is dunks. The four answers are 360, between-the-legs, reverse and windmill.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is NBA 3-point contest winners. The four answers are Herro, Hield, Love and Pierce.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is college mascots. The four answers are Big Al, Brutus, Otto and Rameses.
