The latest New York Times Connections puzzle, specifically the Sports Edition, tested players on March 20 with a mix of team names, sports terminology, and pop culture references. Published by The Athletic (owned by The Times), this daily game challenges participants to group words based on shared themes. Here’s a breakdown of today’s puzzle, including hints and the full solutions.
Understanding the Game
Connections requires players to identify four categories of four words each. The difficulty increases with each category: yellow (easiest), green, blue, and purple (most challenging). The puzzle is available through The Athletic app or online for free, separate from the main NYT Games platform.
Hints for Each Category
To help guide players, here are hints for each grouping, ranked by difficulty:
- Yellow: This group centers around separation or dismissal.
- Green: Think about how goals are scored in soccer.
- Blue: Reflect on the recent NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
- Purple: A Florida city is the key to this obscure grouping.
Complete Solutions
Here’s how the puzzle breaks down:
- Yellow Group: Part Ways
- Axe
- Can
- Fire
- Sack
- Green Group: Types of Kicks in Soccer
- Bicycle
- Corner
- Indirect
- Penalty
- Blue Group: Last Year’s Women’s NCAA Tournament Final Four
- Bruins
- Gamecocks
- Huskies
- Longhorns
- Purple Group: Miami ____
- Dolphins
- Grand Prix
- Heat
- Redhawks
Connections continues to be a popular daily challenge for puzzle enthusiasts, blending sports knowledge with word association skills. The increasing difficulty of the purple category often requires lateral thinking and broad cultural awareness.
