NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for September 22, 2026

Today's Connections: Sports Edition, a word game published by The New York Times in partnership with The Athletic, is designed to challenge sports enthusiasts. The game requires players to identify commonalities among 16 given words, which are then grouped into four sets of four. Each set shares a unique theme, with colors assigned to indicate difficulty levels: yellow (easiest), green, blue, and purple (hardest).

The game resets each day at midnight, with new sets of words that progressively become more challenging. If players successfully identify all four words in a set, those words are removed from the board, allowing for further categorization. Incorrect guesses count as mistakes, with a maximum of four allowed before the game ends. Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to facilitate the identification of connections.

Hints are provided for those seeking assistance. Today's sports edition categories are: Yellow: Equipment for Snow Activities (SKI, SLED, SNOWBOARD, TUBE); Green: MLB Mascots (BLOOPER, MR. MET, SLIDER, WALLY); Blue: Notre Dame Quarterbacks (BOOK, CLAUSEN, QUINN, REES); and Baseball: BAT, CAP, CARDS, REFERENCE. Those who wish to check their answers should proceed to the end of the article, as solutions are revealed there.