The New York Times has recently introduced a new sports-themed version of their Connections puzzle game, called Connections: Sports Edition. This new version focuses on sports-related words and challenges players to group them into categories based on their connections. The game is currently in beta testing, allowing players to try it out for free for a few weeks to see if it gains popularity before potentially becoming a permanent addition to the site’s Games app.
Playing Connections: Sports Edition is similar to the regular game, with players given 16 sports-related words and asked to sort them into four groups that are somehow connected. The difficulty levels of the groups vary, with yellow being the easiest and purple being the hardest. The challenge lies in correctly categorizing the sports-related words, which can sometimes be tricky and misleading. While a knowledge of sports and athletes is helpful, players do not need to be sports experts to solve the puzzle.
Each day, new hints are provided to help players group the words in Connections: Sports Edition. These hints range from easy to difficult, with the yellow hint being the easiest and the purple hint being the most challenging. Examples of hints include “Get your racket” for the yellow group, “Flips and tricks” for the green group, “Bad luck” for the blue group, and “Not Man City, but…” for the purple group. The answers to these hints may include player names, team names, or sport-related activities.
In the most recent puzzle for Connections: Sports Edition, the yellow words were related to tennis grand slams, with answers including Australian, French, US, and Wimbledon. The green words were focused on American gold medal-winning gymnasts, with answers like Biles, Douglas, Lee, and Liukin. The blue words centered around famous sports “curses,” with answers such as Bambino, Billy Goat, Drake, and SI cover. The purple words revolved around names like Atlanta, DC, Manchester, and Newcastle, all followed by “United.”
Overall, the introduction of Connections: Sports Edition adds a new twist to the popular puzzle game, catering to sports fans and enthusiasts. With its sports-themed words and categories, the game challenges players to think critically and make connections based on their knowledge of sports and athletes. The daily hints provided help guide players in grouping the words correctly, adding an element of strategy and problem-solving to the game. As players continue to engage with Connections: Sports Edition, it will be interesting to see if it becomes a permanent fixture on The New York Times Games app.
