The New York Times ’ daily word puzzle, Connections, tested sports fans today with a particularly challenging set of groupings. Published via The Athletic, the puzzle requires players to categorize sixteen words into four groups of four based on shared themes. For those who struggled, here’s a breakdown of today’s (November 6th, #409) solutions, moving from the most accessible to the most obscure.
Today’s Puzzle Themes
The puzzle’s difficulty stemmed from a mix of straightforward sports terms and highly specific connections. The groupings were as follows:
- Yellow (Easiest): Throwing Events – The words discus, hammer, javelin, and shot put all represent track-and-field throwing disciplines. This group was the most immediately recognizable for many players.
- Green: Football Running Plays – The terms counter, draw, sweep, and toss describe common running plays in American football. Players familiar with gridiron strategy would have quickly identified this category.
- Blue: Fantasy Sports Apps – The grouping ESPN, Fantrax, Sleeper, and Yahoo represents popular platforms for managing fantasy sports leagues. This one required knowledge beyond just the sports themselves.
- Purple (Most Difficult): Kentucky Basketball Alumni in NBA – This was the puzzle’s stumper. The answers – Fox, Monk, Quickley, and Towns – are all former University of Kentucky basketball players who went on to play in the National Basketball Association. This required a niche level of sports knowledge.
Why This Puzzle Was Tough
The purple category stands out as unusually specific. Connections puzzles typically rely on broader cultural references or common associations, but this group demanded deep familiarity with college basketball and the NBA draft. The puzzle’s design highlights how The Athletic ’s editorial team deliberately tests obscure sports trivia alongside more mainstream categories.
Where to Play
For those interested in playing Connections and other New York Times games, the puzzle is accessible through The Athletic app or directly on their website. It doesn’t appear in the standard NYT Games app, making it slightly less visible to casual players.
The puzzle reinforces the trend of increasingly specialized word games, catering to dedicated sports fans while challenging broader audiences. Whether this makes the puzzle more or less engaging remains a matter of player preference.
