The Thursday edition of NYT Connections Sports Edition arrives with puzzle #738, serving up a mix of casual competition, fan culture, sporting landmarks, and a tidy language twist.
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 #738:
HORSE | AROUND THE WORLD | RENEGADE | BREAK
KYLE FIELD | THE BUS | STRAIGHT | KNOCKOUT
GIVE | TERRIBLE TOWEL | COTTON BOWL | BLACK AND YELLOW
ALAMODOME | FADE | 21 | DAIKIN PARK
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about informal competition with friends, where the rules can change from one session to the next.
Green Category Clue: Look beyond the action to the culture supporters build around their club.
Blue Category Hint: Consider the setting for a sporting occasion, rather than its competitors or rules.
Purple Category Teaser: Try extending the language on the tiles instead of treating each entry as complete.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Basketball Games): 21, AROUND THE WORLD, HORSE, KNOCKOUT
HORSE, AROUND THE WORLD, KNOCKOUT, and 21 form BASKETBALL GAMES. These are distinct ways to compete on the court, with their own shooting challenges or scoring rules.
FADE is the tempting extra basketball connection, because a fadeaway is a shot. That association is real, but FADE belongs to the word-building group.
Green (Associated With The Pittsburgh Steelers): BLACK AND YELLOW, RENEGADE, TERRIBLE TOWEL, THE BUS
TERRIBLE TOWEL, BLACK AND YELLOW, RENEGADE, and THE BUS are all associated with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The useful move is to look for a shared team connection across different kinds of references. Requiring every entry to describe the same kind of thing would hide this set.
Blue (Texas Sports Venues): ALAMODOME, COTTON BOWL, DAIKIN PARK, KYLE FIELD
KYLE FIELD, COTTON BOWL, DAIKIN PARK, and ALAMODOME are the Texas sports venues.
COTTON BOWL can also refer to a football bowl game, making it the slippery entry here. The other venue names steer you toward a place rather than an event.
Purple (_____Away): BREAK, FADE, GIVE, STRAIGHT
STRAIGHT, FADE, GIVE, and BREAK each take AWAY at the end, producing straightaway, fadeaway, giveaway, and breakaway. The shared ending supplies the connection.
The Verdict
Yellow offers the clearest opening if you recognize the playground competitions, while blue rewards recognition of venue names and their shared geography. Green is a more specific test of Steelers knowledge.
Purple is my streak-deciding group because FADE invites a basketball reading just as yellow starts to click. Keep the category precise, then test STRAIGHT, FADE, GIVE, and BREAK with the same ending.
Reset and Repeat
Take today's AWAY trick into tomorrow's grid as a reminder to test what a word can become. Come back for the next puzzle with fresh eyes and that extra tool ready.
For now, puzzle #738 is solved. See you at midnight for the next round.
