The Friday edition of NYT Connections Sports Edition arrives with puzzle #676, serving up a grid that ranges across football, athletic movement, sports history, and sound-driven nameplay.
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 #676:
PUNT | MORE | TURNOVER | TRUCK
NEIGHBORS | EXTEND | TOUCHDOWN | JACKIE
LAY OUT | LAM | BROOKS | JUDY
LUNGE | FIELD GOAL | MITCHELL | DIVE
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about the limited ways an American football possession can conclude.
Green Category Clue: Picture an athlete trying to get a hand or glove to a ball just beyond comfortable range.
Blue Category Hint: Look for pieces that become complete when paired with the same familiar sports surname.
Purple Category Teaser: Read the candidates aloud and listen for the surnames of NFL pass catchers.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (How A Football Drive Ends): FIELD GOAL, PUNT, TOUCHDOWN, TURNOVER
TOUCHDOWN, FIELD GOAL, PUNT, and TURNOVER are all ways a football drive ends. The first two produce points, while the latter two surrender possession without scoring.
DIVE and LUNGE can occur during football plays, but they describe attempts to reach a ball rather than drive outcomes.
Green (Reach (for A Ball)): DIVE, EXTEND, LAY OUT, LUNGE
LUNGE, DIVE, LAY OUT, and EXTEND describe ways an athlete can reach for a ball. Each conveys stretching beyond a normal stance to make the play.
TRUCK is the movement-based decoy, but it describes powering through an opponent rather than reaching for a ball.
Blue (Robinsons): BROOKS, JACKIE, MITCHELL, TRUCK
MITCHELL, TRUCK, BROOKS, and JACKIE all complete the names of notable athletes with the surname Robinson.
Mitchell Robinson and Truck Robinson are basketball players, while Brooks Robinson and Jackie Robinson are baseball legends. JUDY is the sharp red herring because it resembles another standalone first name but belongs to the sound-based purple set.
Purple (Homophones Of Nfl Wrs): JUDY, LAM, MORE, NEIGHBORS
NEIGHBORS, LAM, MORE, and JUDY sound like the surnames Nabers, Lamb, Moore, and Jeudy. Those surnames belong to NFL wide receivers Malik Nabers, CeeDee Lamb, DJ Moore, and Jerry Jeudy.
The trick works by sound rather than spelling, with NEIGHBORS masking Nabers most aggressively and JUDY hiding Jeudy behind a common first name.
The Verdict
Yellow should fall first because its four football outcomes are concrete, and green follows once the reaching motions are viewed as one sequence of athletic effort.
The real trap sits between blue and purple. JUDY looks comfortable beside JACKIE as another first name, while MITCHELL and BROOKS do not immediately advertise the shared Robinson surname.
Purple is the streak-deciding group because solving it requires abandoning literal spelling and hearing four NFL receiver surnames.
Reset and Repeat
The receiver homophones supply today's best click, especially the leap from NEIGHBORS to Nabers. Reset the board and come back tomorrow for another four-way sports sort.
For now, puzzle #676 is solved. See you at midnight for the next round.
