**Connections: Sports Edition – A Fresh Challenge for Sports Enthusiasts**
*Connections: Sports Edition* is the newest iteration of the well-liked [*New York Times* word game](https://www.nytimes.com/games/connections), crafted to challenge sports fans. Similar to the original *Connections*, this variant compels players to discover “common threads among words.” Additionally, akin to *Wordle*, [*Connections*](https://mashable.com/article/nyt-connections-hint-answer-today-december-28-2024) resets daily at midnight, with each new challenge growing incrementally harder. If you’re feeling stuck, we have hints and tactics to assist you—or feel free to scroll to the bottom for today’s answer.
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### What Is *Connections: Sports Edition*?
The *New York Times* has joined forces with *The Athletic*, their sports-centric outlet, to introduce this daily word challenge. Available on both web and mobile platforms, *Connections: Sports Edition* requires players to categorize four words that share a common theme.
Each challenge is made up of 16 words split into four categories. These categories can include sports-themed vocabulary or broader subjects such as book titles or country names. Although certain words may appear to belong to multiple groups, there is only one accurate solution for each collection.
When players successfully find a group of four words, those words are eliminated from the grid. However, wrong guesses are counted as errors, and players can make up to four mistakes before the game concludes. To facilitate play, players have the option to shuffle the grid for better visibility of connections. The categories are also color-coded by difficulty: yellow (easiest), followed by green, blue, and purple. Like *Wordle*, players can share their outcomes on social media to compare with friends.
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### Today’s *Connections: Sports Edition* Categories – Hints
Need a little help without giving away the answers? Check out these hints for today’s categories:
– **Yellow:** Games you might enjoy with a drink
– **Green:** Competitions related to track
– **Blue:** Sports that involve a net or table separator
– **Purple:** Hole-y
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### Today’s *Connections: Sports Edition* Categories – Unveiled
Still having trouble? Here are the categories for today’s puzzle:
– **Yellow:** Bar games
– **Green:** Decathlon events
– **Blue:** Net sports
– **Purple:** Items with holes
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### Today’s *Connections: Sports Edition* Solution
Eager for the solutions? Drumroll, please! The results for today’s *Connections: Sports Edition* puzzle (#129) are:
– **Bar games:** DARTS, POOL, POP-A-SHOT, SHUFFLEBOARD
– **Decathlon events:** 100 METERS, LONG JUMP, POLE VAULT, SHOT PUT
– **Net sports:** BADMINTON, PING PONG, TENNIS, VOLLEYBALL
– **Things with holes:** BAD DEFENSE, BOWLING BALL, GOLF COURSE, WIFFLE BALL
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### Don’t Sweat If You Missed It
If you couldn’t crack today’s puzzle, don’t worry—there’s always tomorrow! Fresh *Connections* puzzles are released every day, and we’ll return with more hints and solutions to keep you engaged.
Searching for additional puzzles? Visit [Mashable’s games hub](https://games.mashable.com/) for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crosswords, and so much more. And if you’re also tackling *NYT Strands*, [here are today’s hints and answers](https://mashable.com/article/strands-nyt-hint-january-30).
Missed yesterday’s *Connections*? [Locate the solution here](https://mashable.com/article/nyt-connections-hint-answer-today-january-30-2025).