Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition included A’s, B’s and C’s as clues, which made the grid look kind of funny. 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: Golden State sports.
Green group hint: Beantown teams.
Blue group hint: Do you believe in miracles?
Purple group hint: Keep running.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: California baseball teams.
Green group: Shortened nicknames for Boston teams.
Blue group: Associated with the Miracle on Ice.
Purple group: World marathon majors.
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 Connetions: Sports Edition puzzle for April 20, 2026.
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is California baseball teams. The four answers are A’s, Angels, Giants and Padres.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is shortened nicknames for Boston teams. The four answers are B’s, C’s, Pats and Sox.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is associated with the Miracle on Ice. The four answers are 1980, Brooks, hockey and Lake Placid.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is world marathon majors. The four answers are Berlin, Boston, Chicago and Tokyo.
Quick tips for Connections: Sports Edition
#1: Don’t grab for the easiest group. For each word, think about other sports categories it might fit in – is this a word that can be used in football, or to describe scoring options?
#2: Second meanings are important. The puzzle loves to use last names and even college names that mean other things, to fool you into thinking they are words, not names.
#3: And the opposite is also true. Words like HURTS might seem like a regular word, but it’s also the last name of at least one pro athlete.
