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Does it seem like Los Angeles teams always land all the good players? Connections: Sports Edition has a fun category today that ties in to that very topic. There are also two athlete photos as clues — some players like that, and others hate it. Read on for hints and the answers.
Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it 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: Hit it over the net.
Green group hint: Places to play.
Blue group hint: Baseball stars.
Purple group hint: City of Angels bound.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Volleyball lingo.
Green group: Venues for sport.
Blue group: Recent MLB MVPs.
Purple group: Players famously traded to Los Angeles.
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 Feb. 26, 2025, #156.
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is volleyball lingo. The four answers are bump, kill, set and spike.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is venues for sport. The four answers are court, pool, ring and rink.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is recent MLB MVPs. The four answers are Acuña, Goldschmidt, Judge and Ohtani.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is players famously traded to Los Angeles. The four answers are Betts, Dončić, Gretzky and Stafford.
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.