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Today’s Connections: Sports Edition isn’t too tough, but the purple category might stump you. 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: The other team.
Green group hint: Whoops!
Blue group hint: Baseball teams, for short.
Purple group hint: Hoopster nicknames.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Adversary.
Green group: Mess up.
Blue group: NL East teams, on scoreboards.
Purple group: Nicknames of WNBA players.
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. 20, 2026.
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is adversary. The four answers are challenger, foe, opponent and rival.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is mess up. The four answers are botch, err, flub and fumble.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is NL East teams, on scoreboards. The four answers are ATL, MIA, NYM and PHI.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is nicknames of WNBA players. The four answers are KFC, Phee, Point Gawd and Stewie.
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