NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle #436 was published on Wednesday, December 3, 2025. Here are four spoiler-free hints first; the category names and complete answer groups appear after the spoiler break.
Spoiler-free hints for Connections #436
The puzzle asks you to sort 16 sports-related terms into four groups of four. The NYT site’s instructions, as quoted by Parade, describe the task as grouping sports terms that “share a common thread.”
- Yellow: Flip!
- Green: The Keystone State.
- Blue: Melo.
- Purple: Take part in a sport, plus another word.
These hints and the puzzle details were published in Parade’s guide on December 3, 2025 (Parade’s December 3 guide).
Spoilers: categories and answers
Stop here if you want to solve the board yourself.
| Color | Category | Answers |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | WORDS HEARD DURING A COIN TOSS | DEFER, HEADS, RECEIVE, TAILS |
| Green | PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE TEAM NICKNAMES | NITTANY LIONS, OWLS, PANTHERS, QUAKERS |
| Blue | TEAMS CARMELO ANTHONY PLAYED FOR | KNICKS, LAKERS, NUGGETS, ORANGE |
| Purple | PLAY___ | ACTION, CALLER, MAKER, OFF |
How the trickier groups fit
Green: Pennsylvania college team nicknames
NITTANY LIONS, OWLS, PANTHERS, and QUAKERS are the Pennsylvania college team nicknames in this set. A Yahoo Sports reproduction of Mashable’s guide gives this group a conflicting “AFC South Teams” heading, but that label does not match the answers; Parade identifies the category as Pennsylvania college team nicknames.
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Blue: Carmelo Anthony’s teams
KNICKS, LAKERS, and NUGGETS are joined by ORANGE in the category as presented in the puzzle’s answer key.
Purple: words that follow “play”
Add PLAY to the start of each answer: PLAY ACTION, PLAYCALLER, PLAYMAKER, and PLAYOFF.
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About the Sports Edition board
Connections: Sports Edition is a sports-focused word puzzle associated with The New York Times and The Athletic. Its board contains 16 words, which players sort into four groups of four. Yahoo Sports’ reproduction of Mashable’s guide describes access through web browsers and mobile devices; it does not establish current subscription or access terms.
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