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Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is pretty basketball-centric, so make sure you know your hoops. If you’re struggling with it 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: Stop for a bit.
Green group hint: Where you might dunk.
Blue group hint: This name is also a river.
Purple group hint: Sounds like…
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: A pause for recovery.
Green group: Parts of a basketball hoop.
Blue group: Jordans.
Purple group: Homophones of NBA players.
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 Dec. 23, 2025.
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is a pause for recovery. The four answers are break, breather, respite and rest.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is parts of a basketball hoop. The four answers are base, glass, net and rim.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is Jordans. The four answers are Chiles, Love, Poole and Spieth.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is homophones of NBA players. The four answers are barns, flag, heart and quickly.
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