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Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. 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: Fire it in there!
Green group hint: Get in the ring.
Blue group hint: Like Gosling or Reynolds, but their first name becomes a last name.
Purple group hint: Hoops groups, with a twist.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Baseball pitching arm slots.
Green group: Boxing gear.
Blue group: ____ Ryan
Purple group: NBA teams, with the last letter changed.
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 April 14, 2026.
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is baseball pitching arm slots. The four answers are overhand, sidearm, submarine and three-quarters.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is boxing gear. The four answers are gloves, mouthguard, shorts and speed bag.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is ____ Ryan. The four answers are Buddy, Matt, Nolan and Rex.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is NBA teams, with the last letter changed. The four answers are Bucky (Bucks), heap (Heat), spurt (Spurs) and sung (Suns).
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.
#1: Serie A Clubs. Answers: Atalanta, Juventus, Lazio, Roma.
#2: WNBA MVPs. Answers: Catchings, Delle Donne, Fowles and Stewart.
#3: Premier League team nicknames. Answers: Bees, Cherries, Foxes and Hammers.
#4: Homophones of NBA player names. Answers: Barns, Connect, Heart and Hero.
