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Today's Connections: Sports Edition There's a particularly challenging purple category where you have to play with the spelling of certain words. If you can't solve today's puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for the hints and answers.
Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, a subscription sports journalism site owned by The Times. It's not on the NYT Games app, but it's on The Athletic's own app. Or you can play it for free online.
Read more: NYT Connections: Puzzle Sports Edition out of beta
Tips for Today's Groups Connections: Sports Edition
Here are four grouping clues in today's Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, from the simplest yellow grouping to the challenging (and sometimes bizarre) purple grouping.
Yellow group hint: Draw a line.
Green group hint: Get this base.
Blue group hint: Monsters of Midway.
Purple group hint: Fiddling with team names.
Answers to Today's Connections Groups: Sports Edition
Yellow group: Fishing conditions.
Green group: Basic results.
Blue group: Members of the Chicago Bears.
Purple group: MLS teams, with the first letter modified.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here are the most popular letters used in English words
What are today's Connections: Sports Edition answers?
Completed NYT Connections: Sports Edition December 29, 2025 puzzle.
Yellow words in today's connections
The topic is fishing conditions. The four answers are bobber, hook, bait and reel.
Green words in today's connections
The topic is basic results. Four answers: pickle, take away, steal and mark.
Blue words in today's connections
The topic is members of the Chicago Bears. Four answers: Kmet, Loveland, Pot and Swift.
Purple words in today's connections
Subject: MLS teams, only the first letter has been changed. Four answers: founders (Sounders), mercenaries (Fire), limbers (Timbers) and onions (Union).
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