Imagine the thrill of tackling a puzzle that blends the excitement of sports rivalries with the cleverness of word connections – that’s the heart-pounding allure of today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition challenge! On this Rivalry Saturday (November 29, #432), the puzzle pays homage to big games with not one, but two special categories that nod to iconic college football showdowns. If you’re feeling stuck but eager to crack it yourself, stick around for our friendly hints and full solutions. But here’s where it gets controversial: Are these categories sticking to pure sports lore, or are they mixing in a bit of pop culture that might leave some fans scratching their heads? Let’s dive in and find out, while keeping things simple and fun for everyone, from puzzle pros to total newcomers.
I’m Gael Cooper, a CNET editor who’s as much a pop-culture enthusiast as a wordsmith. With co-authorship on books like ‘Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s’ and ‘The Totally Sweet ’90s,’ I’ve spent my career – since 1989 – weaving stories at places like Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. Born in the Gen X era (in spirit and fact), I’m always game for a comeback, especially if Marathon candy bars make a revival. My expertise spans breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping deals, product reviews, money management, video games, pets, history, books, tech evolution, and generational insights. Credentials? I’ve co-authored two Gen X pop-culture guides for Penguin Books, snagged ‘Headline Writer of the Year’ from the American Copy Editors Society in 2017, 2014, and 2013, and earned a first-place win in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
This piece takes about 2 minutes to read. For the latest regular Connections spoilers, check out our daily puzzle answers hub (https://www.cnet.com/feature/daily-puzzle-answers/), complete with hints for today’s standard Connections, plus solutions and tips for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, and Strands.
Published by The Athletic – a premium sports news platform under The New York Times umbrella – this sports twist on Connections isn’t in the NYT Games app, but it’s free to enjoy online or via The Athletic’s app. And this is the part most people miss: It emerged from beta testing right on Super Bowl Sunday, marking a fun evolution in puzzle gaming that ties athletic feats to wordplay. For more backstory, see our article on how NYT Connections: Sports Edition launched out of beta (https://www.cnet.com/tech/gaming/nyt-connections-sports-edition-puzzle-comes-out-of-beta-on-super-bowl-sunday/).
Now, onto the hints for today’s groups, ranked from the simplest yellow to the trickiest (and occasionally quirky) purple. These clues are designed to nudge you without giving everything away, helping beginners grasp the sports themes more easily.
Yellow group hint: Launch it powerfully into the mix.
Green group hint: Ohio State’s symbols.
Blue group hint: Michigan’s emblems.
Purple group hint: Not a pair.
Spoiler alert: If hints aren’t enough, here are the full answers for the groups, with themes and explanations to make sure even puzzle rookies can follow along.
Yellow group: Achievements in baseball hurling. The quartet includes immaculate inning (a rare pitching gem where no batters reach base in an inning), no-hitter (a complete game without allowing any hits), perfect game (an even rarer no-hitter with no walks or errors), and shutout (keeping the opposing team scoreless). These terms celebrate pitching prowess, and for context, a perfect game is so elite that only a handful of pitchers have achieved it in MLB history.
Green group: Tied to Ohio State University. The answers are dotting the I (a cheer for the Buckeyes, referencing the ‘i’ in Ohio State), gray (part of the team’s scarlet and gray color scheme), scarlet (the other half of those vibrant hues), and The Horseshoe (Ohio State’s iconic stadium). This group highlights college football culture, with The Horseshoe being one of the largest stadiums in the nation, known for its electric atmosphere during rival matchups.
Blue group: Linked to the University of Michigan. Here, we have blue (a staple in the Wolverines’ color palette), Hail to the Victors (the school’s famous fight song), maize (the golden-yellow hue in their branding), and The Big House (nickname for Michigan’s massive football venue). For beginners, think of these as symbols of Wolverine pride, where ‘maize and blue’ represents their heritage, and The Big House has hosted legendary games against rivals like Ohio State – talk about high-stakes drama!
Purple group: Triple something. The words are A (as in triple-A, a baseball league level), crown (a triple crown, a rare feat in sports like horse racing or baseball stats), double (but wait, triple play – to differentiate from doubles), and play (triple play, a defensive masterpiece in baseball). This category plays on the word ‘triple,’ but here’s where it gets controversial: Is including ‘double’ in a ‘triple ____’ group a clever twist or a bit of a curveball that might confuse purists? It subverts expectations, blending precision with a dash of wordplay mischief.
For extra puzzle strategy, don’t forget our Wordle Cheat Sheet, which breaks down the most common letters in English words to boost your guessing game (https://www.cnet.com/tech/wordle-player-cheat-sheet-here-are-the-most-popular-letters-used-in-the-english-language/).
What stands out to you about these sports-themed connections? Do you prefer the straightforward baseball feats in yellow, or does the rivalry nod in green and blue get your competitive juices flowing? And on the controversial side, is the purple group’s mix-up a stroke of genius or just plain tricky? We’d love to hear your take – agree, disagree, or share your own puzzle pet peeves in the comments below!
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