The Sunday edition of NYT Connections Sports Edition arrives with puzzle #734, serving up a grid that moves between baseball, pro football, and college sports culture.
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 #734:
ANAHEIM | DUCKS | WADDLE | WORLD
NIX | NIKE | ST. PETERSBURG | WILD CARD
SACRAMENTO | BONITTO | CHAMPIONSHIP | HARVEY
DIVISION | SHOUT | AUTZEN | ARLINGTON
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about how the stakes change as a baseball season moves toward its finish.
Green Category Clue: Geography matters here, and familiar sports branding can send you in the wrong direction.
Blue Category Hint: Look for a pro football connection, even when a name sounds like an everyday word.
Purple Category Teaser: Think about the culture around a college program as well as the action on the field.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (MLB Playoff Rounds, With "Series"): CHAMPIONSHIP, DIVISION, WILD CARD, WORLD
WILD CARD, DIVISION, CHAMPIONSHIP, and WORLD each name an MLB postseason round when followed by Series. WORLD looks broad on its own, but that added word pins it to baseball’s final.
Green (Actual MLB Home Cities): ANAHEIM, ARLINGTON, SACRAMENTO, ST. PETERSBURG
ANAHEIM, ARLINGTON, ST. PETERSBURG, and SACRAMENTO are the MLB home cities in the grid.
ANAHEIM can pull your eye toward DUCKS because of the NHL team, but DUCKS belongs to a different group here.
Blue (Denver Broncos): BONITTO, HARVEY, NIX, WADDLE
NIX, WADDLE, HARVEY, and BONITTO make up the DENVER BRONCOS set.
WADDLE invites a bird association with DUCKS, but that duck imagery is the trap, not the connection.
Purple (Associated With Oregon Football): AUTZEN, DUCKS, NIKE, SHOUT
SHOUT, AUTZEN, NIKE, and DUCKS are associated with Oregon football.
The connection reaches across a game-day song, a stadium, a brand tied to the program, and the team nickname.
The Verdict
Yellow offers the cleanest first foothold once Series clicks after its four words.
The real trap crosses groups: ANAHEIM suggests DUCKS, while WADDLE gives that bird detour another nudge.
Purple is the decisive set if you have been sorting by sport alone, since its four entries connect through different parts of one program’s identity.
Reset and Repeat
Tomorrow brings a fresh grid. Keep today’s ANAHEIM and DUCKS detour in mind when an inviting sports connection crosses two different answers.
For now, puzzle #734 is solved. See you at midnight for the next round.
