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Today’s Connections: Sports Edition reminds players that people’s names can look like regular words. Also, did you spot the SpongeBob SquarePants reference when the grid showed both SANDY and CHEEKS? 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: What’s your role?
Green group hint: Where teams shoot hoops.
Blue group hint: Iconic baseball players.
Purple group hint: Philadelphia.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Members of a staff.
Green group: Words used in NBA venue names.
Blue group: Hall of Fame pitchers, familiarly.
Purple group: 76ers head coaches.
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. 23, 2026.
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is members of a staff. The four answers are coach, manager, scout and trainer.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is words used in NBA venue names. The four answers are arena, dome, forum and garden.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is Hall of Fame pitchers, familiarly. The four answers are Catfish, Rollie, Sandy and Satchel.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is 76ers head coaches. The four answers are Brown, Cheeks, Nurse and Rivers.
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Quick tips for Connections: Sports Edition
#1: Don’t grab for the easiest group. For each word, think about other sports categories it might fit in – is this a word that can be used in football, or to describe scoring options?
#2: Second meanings are important. The puzzle loves to use last names and even college names that mean other things, to fool you into thinking they are words, not names.
#3: And the opposite is also true. Words like HURTS might seem like a regular word, but it’s also the last name of at least one pro athlete.