**Connections: Sports Edition – A Fresh Challenge for Sports Aficionados**
*Connections: Sports Edition* is the newest offshoot of the acclaimed [New York Times word game](https://www.nytimes.com/games/connections), crafted specifically to challenge the expertise of sports fans.
Much like its predecessor *Connections*, this game prompts players to uncover “common threads among words.” Comparable to *Wordle*, the puzzle refreshes every day at midnight, with each new array of words presenting increased difficulty. If you find yourself perplexed, we offer hints and strategies to guide you—or you can jump straight to today’s solution.
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### What is *Connections: Sports Edition*?
This innovative daily word game from the *New York Times* is developed in partnership with *The Athletic*, the outlet focused on sports. Accessible on web browsers and mobile devices alike, the game requires players to group four words that have a shared connection.
Each puzzle contains 16 words, sorted into four categories. These categories can vary from sports teams to announcers, distances, or even larger topics like book titles or nations. While some words may appear to group together, there is only one accurate solution for each set.
Upon correctly identifying all four words within a category, those words will be removed from the board. However, incorrect guesses are counted as mistakes, and players may make up to four mistakes before the game concludes.
To simplify gameplay, players can shuffle the board to rearrange the words and identify connections more easily. Each category is color-coded, with yellow denoting the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Similar to *Wordle*, players have the option to share their results on social media to compare with friends.
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### Tips for Today’s *Connections: Sports Edition* Categories
Need a little help without revealing the answers? Here are some clues for today’s puzzle:
– **Yellow:** Distances a horse could run
– **Green:** Sports teams from the dairy state
– **Blue:** Basketball analysts
– **Purple:** Teams located in capital cities
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### Today’s *Connections: Sports Edition* Categories
If you require a bit more assistance, here are today’s categories:
– **Yellow:** Horse racing distances
– **Green:** Teams from Wisconsin
– **Blue:** NBA commentators
– **Purple:** Teams that compete in world capitals
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### Today’s *Connections: Sports Edition* Solutions
Still feeling stuck? Here’s today’s puzzle solution:
– **Horse racing distances:** *FURLONG, LENGTH, MILE, NOSE*
– **Wisconsin teams:** *BADGERS, BUCKS, BREWERS, PACKERS*
– **NBA commentators:** *BREEN, BURKE, EAGLE, HARLAN*
– **Teams that compete in world capitals:** *NATIONALS, REAL MADRID, SENATORS, TOTTENHAM*
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Don’t fret if you weren’t able to solve it this round—there’s always tomorrow! A new *Connections* puzzle will be ready for you, and we’ll return with more hints and tips to assist you.
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### Interested in More Games?
If you enjoy puzzles, visit Mashable’s [games hub](https://games.mashable.com/) for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crosswords, and much more.
Looking to try another *NYT* game? [Here’s today’s Wordle solution](https://mashable.com/article/wordle-today-answer-december-22-2024), or check out hints and solutions for *NYT Strands* [here](https://mashable.com/article/strands-nyt-hint-december-22).
Missed yesterday’s *Connections*? [Find the solution here](https://mashable.com/article/nyt-connections-hint-answer-today-december-22).
Enjoy puzzling!