NYT Connections Sports Edition hints & answers: Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Updated: Wednesday, July 22, 2026 · Hints reviewed by Omer Liban · New puzzle daily at midnight local time — free from The Athletic. · Puzzle editor: Mark Cooper.

This page has every level of help for the NYT Connections Sports Edition puzzle of Wednesday, July 22, 2026: 3 spoiler-free hint tiers that narrow things down step by step, followed by the complete answers with explanations — each behind its own tap-to-reveal card.

Stuck on today's Sports Edition? Same drill as regular Connections: work the tiers below from a single answer per group up to the full explained solution, revealing only as much as you want.

Connections: Sports Edition works exactly like regular Connections — four colour-coded groups from easiest 🟡 yellow to trickiest 🟣 purple — but every category is sports: players, teams, rules, moments. It's made by The Athletic and free to play.

Sports Connections hints (July 22, 2026)

1One answer from each group

Yellow (easiest): one of its answers is “POND”.
Green (easy): one of its answers is “WATERBOY”.
Blue (tricky): one of its answers is “SWAMP”.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay): one of its answers is “HYDRATION”.

2Category hints (no answers)

Yellow (easiest): the theme is “Places where an errant golf shot lands”.
Green (easy): the theme is “Sports films, with "the"”.
Blue (tricky): the theme is “College football stadium nicknames, with "the"”.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay): the theme is “_____ break”.

3One full group revealed

Yellow (easiest) — the connection is “Places where an errant golf shot lands”, and its four answers are: POND, BUNKER, ROUGH, OUT OF BOUNDS.

Sports Connections answers — July 22, 2026

★Today's full Sports Connections answers, explained

Yellow (easiest) — the connection is “Places where an errant golf shot lands”. The answers: POND, BUNKER, ROUGH, OUT OF BOUNDS.
Green (easy) — the connection is “Sports films, with "the"”. The answers: WATERBOY, FIGHTER, KARATE KID, NATURAL.
Blue (tricky) — the connection is “College football stadium nicknames, with "the"”. The answers: SWAMP, BIG HOUSE, HORSESHOE, FLATS.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay) — the connection is “_____ break”. The answers: HYDRATION, TIE, FAST, SERVICE.

Next in today's routine: Soccer Connections → · every game's answers on one page. New puzzle daily at midnight local time — free from The Athletic. Bookmark this page for tomorrow's hints. Or play Sports Connections on the official site.

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Sports Connections — common questions

How is Connections Sports Edition different from regular Connections?

Same rules — sort sixteen answers into four colour-coded groups — but every category is sports: players, teams, rules, kits, moments. It's made by The Athletic (the NYT's sports newsroom), it's free, and it lives on The Athletic's site rather than the NYT Games app.

What time does Sports Connections reset?

At midnight in your own local timezone, like Wordle — not at midnight Eastern like regular Connections. Wherever you are, the new puzzle arrives when your clock strikes twelve.

What do the colours mean in Sports Connections?

The same difficulty ladder as regular Connections: yellow is the easiest group, then green, then blue, and purple is the trickiest — often wordplay or a sneaky link between the leftover answers.

Previous Sports Connections puzzles

Full Sports Connections archive (137 puzzles) → · How to play Connections: Sports Edition →