The Friday edition of NYT Connections Sports Edition arrives with puzzle #599, and this one tests your knowledge of NHL geography, MLB history, and a clever bit of basketball wordplay that will leave you staring at the grid. Today's challenge rewards hockey fans who know their Canadian franchises and baseball historians who remember Colorado's pre-Rockies identity.
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 #599:
SHARKS | JETS | BIRDMAN | CANUCKS
WALKER | EARTHQUAKES | NASHVILLE | ARENADO
TULOWITZKI | FLAMES | BAY FC | OILERS
SAN JOSE STATE | BINGHAMTON | WEST SIDE STORY | STORY
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think north of the border, these four teams share a country, not a conference.
Green Category Clue: One city claims all four of these teams across different sports and levels of play.
Blue Category Hint: These four players wore the same uniform in the same era, and their bats made noise in the Mile High City.
Purple Category Teaser: Look past the sport on the card, these names begin with something that belongs in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Canadian NHL Teams): CANUCKS, FLAMES, JETS, OILERS
Hockey fans should have scooped this one up fast. The Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, and Edmonton Oilers are all NHL franchises based in Canada, a clean, straightforward grouping that earns its yellow difficulty.
Green (Teams That Play in San Jose): BAY FC, EARTHQUAKES, SAN JOSE STATE, SHARKS
San Jose is the common thread here, spanning four different sports. The Sharks (NHL), Earthquakes (MLS), Bay FC (NWSL), and San Jose State Spartans (NCAA) all call the South Bay home, making this a geography-based grouping that rewards local sports knowledge.
Blue (Colorado Rockies All-Stars, Historically): ARENADO, STORY, TULOWITZKI, WALKER
This one separates casual baseball fans from the diehards. Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, Troy Tulowitzki, and Larry Walker all suited up for the Colorado Rockies and earned All-Star nods during their tenures, though their careers spanned different eras of the franchise.
Purple (Starts With a Basketball Hall of Famer): BINGHAMTON, BIRDMAN, NASHVILLE, WEST SIDE STORY
The trickiest category demands you ignore the sports context entirely and focus on the first word. BINGHAMTON starts with "Bing" (Dave Bing), BIRDMAN starts with "Bird" (Larry Bird), NASHVILLE starts with "Nash" (Steve Nash), and WEST SIDE STORY starts with "West" (Jerry West), four Basketball Hall of Famers hiding in plain sight.
The Verdict
Puzzle #599 registers as moderate difficulty with a sting in the tail. Yellow falls quickly for anyone who knows their Canadian NHL teams, while green requires recognizing that San Jose punches above its weight in pro sports.
Blue separates the true baseball historians from casual fans, Larry Walker's inclusion spans back to the 1990s, while Arenado and Story represent the 2010s core. Purple, predictably, is the streak-ender, requiring serious lateral thinking about basketball legends whose names are embedded in these words.
The real trap? "JETS" looks like it could be a San Jose team (the Sharks' minor-league affiliate is the San Jose Barracuda, not Jets), and "NASHVILLE" screams NHL (the Predators) but belongs to the purple wordplay category instead. "STORY" could easily be mistaken for a narrative theme rather than Rockies shortstop Trevor Story.
Reset and Repeat
Tomorrow's puzzle drops at midnight in your timezone. Until then, reflect on today's performance: did you nail the Canadian NHL teams, or did the Rockies All-Stars trip you up?
The beauty lies not in perfection but in training your brain to spot these hidden sports connections.
For now, puzzle #599 is solved. See you at midnight for round #600.
