The Tuesday edition of NYT Connections Sports Edition arrives with puzzle #680, serving up a grid that spans the diamond, college rivalries, professional hockey, and an NFL roster connection.
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 #680:
DUCKS | WINGS | ACE | QUEEN
OPENER | SETUP | KNIGHTS | JACKETS
LEAFS | HIGHSMITH | GOLDEN GOPHERS | WATT
BADGERS | METCALF | HUSKIES | CLOSER
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about the distinct jobs a pitcher can perform over the course of a baseball game.
Green Category Clue: Conference membership matters more than geography or shared physical traits here.
Blue Category Hint: Complete some professional hockey team names, then compare the words that come at the end.
Purple Category Teaser: Read these as surnames and search for one current NFL roster that connects them.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
---
---
---
---
---
Yellow (Baseball Pitching Roles): ACE, CLOSER, OPENER, SETUP
ACE, CLOSER, OPENER, and SETUP are baseball pitching roles. An ace leads a rotation, an opener starts a game for a short stint, a setup pitcher works before the final inning, and a closer is trusted to finish tight games.
ACE also pairs naturally with QUEEN as a card rank, creating a sharp but incomplete two-word decoy.
Green (Big Ten Teams): BADGERS, DUCKS, GOLDEN GOPHERS, HUSKIES
DUCKS, BADGERS, HUSKIES, and GOLDEN GOPHERS are Big Ten team names, representing Oregon, Wisconsin, Washington, and Minnesota.
DUCKS can drift toward WINGS through the bird association, but WINGS belongs to the hockey construction instead.
Blue (Second Words In Nhl Team Names): JACKETS, KNIGHTS, LEAFS, WINGS
WINGS, LEAFS, KNIGHTS, and JACKETS are the second words in Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, and Columbus Blue Jackets.
KNIGHTS has the broad mascot flavor of the college entries, while GOLDEN GOPHERS can tempt solvers toward Golden Knights through their shared modifier.
Purple (Pittsburgh Steelers): HIGHSMITH, METCALF, QUEEN, WATT
QUEEN, WATT, HIGHSMITH, and METCALF point to Pittsburgh Steelers Patrick Queen, T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and DK Metcalf.
The trick is treating four ordinary-looking entries as player surnames, with QUEEN and WATT especially effective at hiding their roster connection.
The Verdict
The pitching roles offer the cleanest opening solve because OPENER, SETUP, and CLOSER describe a recognizable game progression, with ACE completing the set.
The real trap sits among the team-name vocabulary, especially the DUCKS and WINGS bird link and the shared GOLDEN language suggested by GOLDEN GOPHERS and KNIGHTS.
The Steelers quartet is the streak-deciding group because its surnames do not announce football until one roster connection clicks.
Reset and Repeat
The best reset after this grid is to remember how effectively everyday words can conceal athlete surnames. Come back tomorrow ready to test each stubborn leftover as both common vocabulary and a proper name.
For now, puzzle #680 is solved. See you at midnight for the next round.
