The Sunday edition of NYT Connections Sports Edition arrives with puzzle #762, serving up a grid that moves between sports knowledge, familiar names, and close reading. The useful connection is not always the one suggested by an entry’s sporting identity.
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 #762:
MAMMOTH | JAZZ | GALA | GRIZZLIES
MIZZOU | MCINTOSH | WILD | KRAKEN
CHAR | ORR | RIZZUTO | NASH
LAKE | AVALANCHE | VOTTO | CLIP
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about how a team is named, beyond the city it represents.
Green Category Clue: Give the lettering a closer look before chasing another sports connection.
Blue Category Hint: A shared background can connect careers across different sports.
Purple Category Teaser: Consider whether an entry’s sporting identity becomes clearer when you extend it.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (NHL Teams With Singular Nicknames): AVALANCHE, KRAKEN, MAMMOTH, WILD
WILD, KRAKEN, MAMMOTH, and AVALANCHE are NHL team nicknames in singular form. The category depends on the names themselves, rather than the cities attached to them.
Green (Contains A Double Z): GRIZZLIES, JAZZ, MIZZOU, RIZZUTO
JAZZ, RIZZUTO, GRIZZLIES, and MIZZOU each contain consecutive Zs. Their sporting associations give way to a connection visible directly in their spelling.
Blue (Famous Canadian Athletes): MCINTOSH, NASH, ORR, VOTTO
MCINTOSH, ORR, NASH, and VOTTO belong together as famous Canadian athletes. Nationality supplies the connection across these surnames.
Purple (Starts Of Los Angeles Team Names): CHAR, CLIP, GALA, LAKE
LAKE opens Lakers, GALA opens Galaxy, CHAR opens Chargers, and CLIP opens Clippers. Each entry begins the name of a Los Angeles team, so the connection emerges when you complete the fragments.
The Verdict
Green looks like the best opening because its repeated letters offer a direct visual check. Yellow rewards team recognition, but JAZZ and GRIZZLIES can tempt you into a broader team-name collection before you apply the NHL restriction.
Blue tests whether you can connect MCINTOSH, ORR, NASH, and VOTTO through their Canadian background. Purple is the streak-deciding twist: LAKE, GALA, CHAR, and CLIP demand a shift from reading complete words to completing team names.
Reset and Repeat
Carry today’s fragment trick into tomorrow’s grid: an ordinary word can be the opening of a sports name. Come back for another round with an eye on both what an entry says and what it could become.
For now, puzzle #762 is solved. See you at midnight for the next round.