The Friday edition of NYT Connections Sports Edition arrives with puzzle #739, serving up a grid that moves between professional sports and college basketball. Familiar names offer a foothold, but the strongest associations deserve a second look.
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 #739:
LIGHTNING | RAY | THUNDER | HAWKS
THE KENNEL | FALCONS | STORM | PHOG
BRAVES | JOSH | HURRICANES | FEW
SPOKANE | BULLDOGS | HOLMGREN | MARCUS
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about where sporting loyalties live, rather than what the names describe.
Green Category Clue: Look beyond the scoreboard and consider the imagery sports branding borrows from nature.
Blue Category Hint: Some entries become more useful when you imagine them as part of a longer name.
Purple Category Teaser: College basketball knowledge helps here. Look for connections that cross different kinds of references.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Teams In Georgia): BRAVES, BULLDOGS, FALCONS, HAWKS
BULLDOGS, HAWKS, BRAVES and FALCONS belong together as teams in Georgia. Their shared location supplies the connection.
BULLDOGS creates the sharpest distraction because Gonzaga also uses that nickname. Keep the Georgia connection intact when the college basketball references start pulling your attention elsewhere.
Green (Teams With Weather-Themed Names): HURRICANES, LIGHTNING, STORM, THUNDER
THUNDER, LIGHTNING, HURRICANES and STORM are team names with a weather theme. The connection comes from what those names describe.
Blue (_____ Allen): JOSH, MARCUS, PHOG, RAY
RAY, PHOG, JOSH and MARCUS each precede Allen, giving Ray Allen, Phog Allen, Josh Allen and Marcus Allen. The shared surname makes this a name-completion group.
Purple (Associated With Gonzaga): FEW, HOLMGREN, SPOKANE, THE KENNEL
FEW, HOLMGREN, THE KENNEL and SPOKANE all connect to Gonzaga. This category gathers different references around one program rather than asking you to complete a shared name.
The Verdict
Green looks like the cleanest opening because its weather imagery gives all four entries an immediate connection. Yellow asks you to switch from the meaning of team names to their location.
The real trap is BULLDOGS, which fits the Georgia answer while also pointing toward Gonzaga. Purple is the streak-deciding group because recognizing its broader association helps you resist moving that tempting extra entry into it.
Blue rewards a different kind of recognition: adding Allen makes the scattered names cohere. That shift from team identities to full names gives the puzzle a satisfying change of gear.
Reset and Repeat
Today's BULLDOGS detour is a useful reminder to test the whole group before committing to an appealing association. Come back tomorrow for a fresh grid and another chance to put that discipline to work.
For now, puzzle #739 is solved. See you at midnight for the next round.
