NYT Connections Sports Edition hints & answers: Monday, September 21, 2026

Updated: Monday, September 21, 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 Monday, September 21, 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 (September 21, 2026)

1One answer from each group

Yellow (easiest): one of its answers is “HONOR”.
Green (easy): one of its answers is “AMERICAN”.
Blue (tricky): one of its answers is “DEMPSEY”.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay): one of its answers is “FRANZ”.

2Category hints (no answers)

Yellow (easiest): the theme is “Distinction”.
Green (easy): the theme is “Dc schools”.
Blue (tricky): the theme is “Usmnt all-time leading goal scorers”.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay): the theme is “_____ wagner”.

3One full group revealed

Yellow (easiest) — the connection is “Distinction”, and its four answers are: HONOR, AWARD, ACCOLADE, PRIZE.

Sports Connections answers — September 21, 2026

★Today's full Sports Connections answers, explained

Yellow (easiest) — the connection is “Distinction”. The answers: HONOR, AWARD, ACCOLADE, PRIZE.
Green (easy) — the connection is “Dc schools”. The answers: AMERICAN, GEORGETOWN, GEORGE WASHINGTON, HOWARD.
Blue (tricky) — the connection is “Usmnt all-time leading goal scorers”. The answers: DEMPSEY, DONOVAN, ALTIDORE, WYNALDA.
Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay) — the connection is “_____ wagner”. The answers: FRANZ, HONUS, BILLY, ASHLEY.

The puzzle, explained

The purple group nails you because all four of these names work as famous people's first names, but they're specifically connected as the last names of people named Wagner—Franz Wagner (NBA player), Honus Wagner (legendary baseball shortstop), Billy Wagner (Hall of Fame pitcher), and Ashley Wagner (figure skater). The biggest trap here is **HONUS**, which probably feels like it belongs with the USMNT goal scorers since Honus Wagner is such an iconic baseball name, but he's actually your Wagner connection. **DONOVAN** and **DEMPSEY** are both legitimate USMNT legends, so they create solid bait for the blue group, and **ALTIDORE** and **WYNALDA** complete that set perfectly, which makes it hard to see why one of those soccer stars might need to pivot elsewhere.

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 →