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Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a kind of a fun one. It helps if you know a lot of last names from the sports world. 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: More than 10 teams are in this group now.
Green group hint: No rings for them.
Blue group hint: Where teams play.
Purple group hint: Hit the right note.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Big Ten teams.
Green group: Last four Super Bowl-losing QBs.
Blue group: Home cities of NFL teams.
Purple group: Athletes with musical surnames.
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 Jan. 18, 2026.
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is Big Ten teams. The four answers are Penn State, Purdue, Washington and Wisconsin.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is last four Super Bowl-losing QBs. The four answers are Burrow, Hurts, Mahomes and Purdy.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is home cities of NFL teams. The four answers are Arlington, Foxboro, Orchard Park and Santa Clara.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is athletes with musical surnames. The four answers are Jared Verse, Jaycee Horn, Madison Keys and Steve Sax.
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