The latest New York Times Connections: Sports Edition puzzle (#554, March 31st) has been solved. The game, published by The Athletic (a Times -owned sports journalism site), presents players with sixteen words. The goal is to group them into four sets of four, based on shared themes. This edition proved especially tricky, with the purple category being particularly challenging.
The puzzle is available through The Athletic’s app or online for free, though it does not appear in the main NYT Games app. Here’s a breakdown of the solution, from the easier groups to the most difficult:
Category Breakdown
- Yellow: The yellow group revolves around ice hockey positions. The four words are center, defenseman, goaltender, and winger.
- Green: The green category consists of well-known women’s tennis players. The answers are Coco (Gauff), Iga (Świątek), Serena (Williams), and Venus (Williams).
- Blue: The blue group features Hall of Fame quarterbacks. The correct words are Montana (Joe Montana), Moon (Warren Moon), Starr (Bart Starr), and Unitas (Johnny Unitas).
- Purple: The purple category, the most difficult, centers around “BASE” jumping. This is an acronym for buildings, antennas, spans, and earth – the four things one jumps from.
The puzzle highlights the diversity within sports terminology, from position-based terms in hockey to recognizing famous athletes across tennis and football. The purple category’s obscurity demonstrates how the game sometimes tests lateral thinking rather than straight sports knowledge.
