The Saturday edition of NYT Connections Sports Edition arrives with puzzle #572, testing your hockey knowledge with arena sponsors, recent champions, goal types, and deliciously deceptive terminology. Today's challenge particularly favors NHL fans who can separate hockey jargon from food items.
What Makes Connections Sports Edition Tick
For newcomers, NYT Connections Sports Edition presents 16 sports-themed words that must be sorted into four thematic groups of four. The twist?
You're limited to four mistakes, and the color-coded difficulty system (yellow being easiest, purple being trickiest) means surface-level connections often mislead.
Connections Sports Edition brings the same addictive puzzle format to the world of athletics, featuring athletes, teams, sports terminology, and legendary moments. The game's genius lies in its red herrings, words that could fit multiple sports categories but belong in only one.
Today's Grid at a Glance
Here are the 16 words staring back at you in puzzle #572:
APPLE | ICING | POWER PLAY | BALL
LIGHTNING | BISCUIT | TD | SHORT-HANDED
CAPITAL ONE | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | EMPTY NET | AVALANCHE
EVEN STRENGTH | GRINDER | PANTHERS | CANADIAN TIRE
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: These all describe different situations when a puck crosses the goal line in hockey.
Green Category Clue: These four NHL franchises have lifted the Stanley Cup most recently.
Blue Category Hint: These corporate names adorn the arenas where NHL teams play their home games.
Purple Category Teaser: These hockey terms double as items you might find on a restaurant menu.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Types of Hockey Goals): EMPTY NET, EVEN STRENGTH, POWER PLAY, SHORT-HANDED
These four terms describe different goal-scoring situations in hockey. Empty net goals happen when the opposing goalie is pulled, even strength goals occur with equal players on ice, power play goals come during a man advantage, and short-handed goals are scored while killing a penalty.
Green (Last Four Teams to Win the Stanley Cup): AVALANCHE, GOLDEN KNIGHTS, LIGHTNING, PANTHERS
These NHL franchises represent the most recent Stanley Cup champions. The Colorado Avalanche won in 2022, Vegas Golden Knights in 2023, Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021, and Florida Panthers captured their first championship in 2025.
Blue (NHL Arena Names): BALL, CANADIAN TIRE, CAPITAL ONE, TD
These are all corporate sponsors of NHL arenas. Ball Arena hosts the Colorado Avalanche, Canadian Tire Centre is home to the Ottawa Senators, Capital One Arena houses the Washington Capitals, and TD Garden serves as the Boston Bruins' home ice.
Purple (Hockey Terms That Are Also Food Items): APPLE, BISCUIT, GRINDER, ICING
These hockey terms have delicious double meanings. An "apple" is an assist, a "biscuit" is the puck, a "grinder" is a hard-working player, and "icing" is the infraction of shooting the puck from behind the red line across both goal lines.
The Verdict
Puzzle #572 registers as moderate difficulty with a sting in the tail. Yellow falls quickly for anyone who recognizes the hockey goal types, while green requires deeper NHL championship knowledge.
Blue separates the true hockey buffs from casual fans who might mistake arena names for team names. Purple, predictably, is the streak-ender, requiring serious lateral thinking about hockey terminology that doubles as food items.
The real trap lies in "BALL" and "TD", both could easily be mistaken for sports equipment or scoring plays rather than arena sponsors. Similarly, "APPLE" and "BISCUIT" might lead solvers toward fruit or bakery categories before revealing their hockey meanings.
Reset and Repeat
Tomorrow's puzzle drops at midnight in your timezone. Until then, reflect on today's performance: did you spot the arena sponsors or get tripped up by the food-themed hockey terms?
The beauty lies not in perfection but in training your brain to spot these hidden sports connections.
For now, puzzle #572 is solved. See you at midnight for round #573.
