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Today’s Connections: Sports Edition features some tricky categories. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.
Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.
Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta
Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: NFL athletes.
Green group hint: Hoops time.
Blue group hint: Sounds like what it is.
Purple group hint: Not single or triple.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: An AFC West player.
Green group: March Madness lingo.
Blue group: Sports onomatopoeias.
Purple group: Double ____.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?
The completed NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for March 2, 2026.
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is an AFC West player. The four answers are Bronco, Charger, Chief and Raider.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is March Madness lingo. The four answers are bracket, bubble, Cinderella and seed.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is sports onomatopoeias. The four answers are clank, crunch, ping and vroom.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is double ____. The four answers are A, bogey, double and fault.
Toughest Connections: Sports Edition categories
The Connections: Sports Edition puzzle can be tough, but it really depends on which sports you know the most about. My husband aces anything having to do with Formula 1, my best friend is a hockey buff, and I can answer any question about Minnesota teams.
That said, it’s hard to pick the toughest Connections categories, but here are some I found exceptionally mind-blowing.
#1: Serie A Clubs. Answers: Atalanta, Juventus, Lazio, Roma.
#2: WNBA MVPs. Answers: Catchings, Delle Donne, Fowles and Stewart.
#3: Premier League team nicknames. Answers: Bees, Cherries, Foxes and Hammers.
#4: Homophones of NBA player names. Answers: Barns, Connect, Heart and Hero.
