NYT Connections Sports Edition hints & answers: Thursday, August 13, 2026

Updated: Thursday, August 13, 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 Thursday, August 13, 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 (August 13, 2026)

1One answer from each group

Yellow (easiest): one of its answers is “SEAHAWKS”.
Green (easy): one of its answers is “BUCCANEERS”.
Blue (tricky): one of its answers is “PAINTER”.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay): one of its answers is “RACERS”.

2Category hints (no answers)

Yellow (easiest): the theme is “Last four teams to win a super bowl”.
Green (easy): the theme is “Tampa bay-area teams”.
Blue (tricky): the theme is “Matt _____”.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay): the theme is “Nba teams, with the first letter changed”.

3One full group revealed

Yellow (easiest) — the connection is “Last four teams to win a super bowl”, and its four answers are: SEAHAWKS, EAGLES, CHIEFS, RAMS.

Sports Connections answers — August 13, 2026

★Today's full Sports Connections answers, explained

Yellow (easiest) — the connection is “Last four teams to win a super bowl”. The answers: SEAHAWKS, EAGLES, CHIEFS, RAMS.
Green (easy) — the connection is “Tampa bay-area teams”. The answers: BUCCANEERS, LIGHTNING, RAYS, SOUTH FLORIDA.
Blue (tricky) — the connection is “Matt _____”. The answers: PAINTER, FORTE, RYAN, HOLLIDAY.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay) — the connection is “Nba teams, with the first letter changed”. The answers: RACERS, SLIPPERS, BAKERS, WINGS.

The puzzle, explained

The purple group is the sneaky one—it's NBA teams where you swap out the first letter for a different one. The Pacers become RACERS, the Clippers turn into SLIPPERS, the 76ers become BAKERS (since "76" sounds like "bake"), and the Lakers become WINGS. The main trap was probably thinking WINGS and RACERS were actual teams (the Pistons and the Colts), or that they belonged with the Tampa Bay area teams since the Lightning and Rays are real franchises with animal names. Also, FORTE and HOLLIDAY might've tempted you toward the purple group since they're last names, but they're actually part of the "MATT _____" group with PAINTER and RYAN.

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.

More of today's puzzles

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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 →