The Friday edition of NYT Connections Sports Edition arrives with puzzle #711, serving up a grid that moves from the diamond and the pool to board sports and front-office language.
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 #711:
LOTTERY | HIT | 900 | MANUAL
THOMPSON | PLUNK | DRESSEL | LEDECKY
DRILL | MCTWIST | ORDER | CLASS
BEAN | HEELFLIP | PHELPS | PICKS
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about an unwanted outcome during a plate appearance, then look for several ways to describe it.
Green Category Clue: Shift your attention to moves performed on a board, including maneuvers involving balance, rotation, or a flip.
Blue Category Hint: These surnames belong together because of exceptional careers in the same Olympic sport.
Purple Category Teaser: Place the same sports-related word before four entries to create familiar expressions.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Nail A Batter With A Pitch): BEAN, DRILL, HIT, PLUNK
PLUNK, BEAN, DRILL, and HIT can all mean nail a batter with a pitch.
HIT supplies the broadest distraction because it also pairs naturally with LOTTERY in the phrase “hit the lottery.”
Green (Skateboarding Tricks): 900, HEELFLIP, MANUAL, MCTWIST
HEELFLIP, MANUAL, MCTWIST, and 900 are all skateboarding tricks.
MANUAL can suggest written instructions, which gives it a tempting surface connection to DRILL as a practiced exercise.
Blue (Swimmers With 10+ Olympic Medals): DRESSEL, LEDECKY, PHELPS, THOMPSON
PHELPS, DRESSEL, LEDECKY, and THOMPSON are swimmers with at least 10 Olympic medals apiece.
THOMPSON is the slipperiest entry because the surname carries less immediate swimming recognition than PHELPS or LEDECKY.
Purple (Draft _____): CLASS, LOTTERY, ORDER, PICKS
LOTTERY, CLASS, ORDER, and PICKS each follow DRAFT, producing draft lottery, draft class, draft order, and draft picks.
The trick is grammatical rather than topical at first glance, since the shared opener turns four flexible words into established sports phrases.
The Verdict
The yellow set should fall first once PLUNK and BEAN establish the baseball action.
The real trap sits between broad terms such as HIT, MANUAL, DRILL, and LOTTERY, which invite plausible pairings before their exact roles emerge.
Purple decides the clean solve, since recognizing DRAFT as the missing opener locks LOTTERY, CLASS, ORDER, and PICKS into place.
Reset and Repeat
The shared DRAFT opener is today's standout trick, a neat reminder to test what can come before a word as carefully as what can follow it. Reset the board and come back tomorrow for another round.
For now, puzzle #711 is solved. See you at midnight for the next round.
