The Tuesday edition of NYT Connections Sports Edition arrives with puzzle #736, serving up a grid where larger-than-life names, screen memories, and objects with stories behind them all compete for attention.
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 #736:
FIELD OF DREAMS | COLOSSUS OF CLOUT | ALYSA LIU | VICTORY BELL
PAUL BUNYAN'S AXE | BAMBINO | APOLO OHNO | SULTAN OF SWAT
BULL DURHAM | DRAFT DAY | OLD OAKEN BUCKET | PICABO STREET
BABE | FLOYD OF ROSEDALE | TIN CUP | MARIT BJØRGEN
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Listen for language that makes an athlete sound larger than life.
Green Category Clue: Focus on the people, then consider the stage they have shared.
Blue Category Hint: Shift your attention from competition itself to the stories told about it.
Purple Category Teaser: Some names in the grid belong to things competitors can claim rather than to competitors themselves.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Babe Ruth Nicknames): BABE, BAMBINO, COLOSSUS OF CLOUT, SULTAN OF SWAT
BABE, BAMBINO, COLOSSUS OF CLOUT, and SULTAN OF SWAT are all nicknames for Babe Ruth.
BULL DURHAM and FIELD OF DREAMS add a baseball pull to the grid, but they belong with the films.
Green (Famous Winter Olympians): ALYSA LIU, APOLO OHNO, MARIT BJØRGEN, PICABO STREET
PICABO STREET, APOLO OHNO, MARIT BJØRGEN, and ALYSA LIU are Winter Olympians.
Blue (Kevin Costner Sports Films): BULL DURHAM, DRAFT DAY, FIELD OF DREAMS, TIN CUP
BULL DURHAM, DRAFT DAY, FIELD OF DREAMS, and TIN CUP are sports films starring Kevin Costner.
TIN CUP looks at home among named prizes, which makes its film connection easy to overlook.
Purple (Big Ten Rivalry Trophies): FLOYD OF ROSEDALE, OLD OAKEN BUCKET, PAUL BUNYAN'S AXE, VICTORY BELL
PAUL BUNYAN'S AXE, VICTORY BELL, OLD OAKEN BUCKET, and FLOYD OF ROSEDALE are trophies associated with Big Ten rivalry games. The trick is recognizing these distinctive names as prizes rather than people or film titles.
The Verdict
Yellow offers the clearest start if its grand nicknames catch your eye; green then asks you to recognize athletes from several disciplines.
The sharper trap is the overlap between the baseball flavor of BULL DURHAM and FIELD OF DREAMS and the Ruth nicknames. TIN CUP creates a second pause beside the named trophies.
Purple is the decisive group for a clean finish, since its four entries need to be read as rivalry prizes.
Reset and Repeat
Tomorrow brings a fresh grid. Take today's TIN CUP misdirection with you: an object-shaped name can belong on the screen instead of in the trophy case.
For now, puzzle #736 is solved. See you at midnight for the next round.
