Need a nudge for NYT Connections: Sports Edition #464, dated Wednesday, December 31, 2025? Start with the spoiler-light clues below, then open the category names and full groups only when you’re ready. This is a guide to that dated puzzle, not today’s edition.
How to use these Connections Sports Edition hints
The game asks players to “group sports terms that share a common thread,” according to wording Parade attributes to the NYT site. Its board has 16 words to sort into four groups of four. Read the hints in order: each one points toward a category without immediately giving away every answer.
- Yellow: Lights, camera, sports!
- Green: Best in their sport.
- Blue: College sports sites.
- Purple: Team names are hidden.
Category names
Stop here if you want the category reveal but still plan to work out the four words in each group yourself.
- Yellow: Sports film of 2025
- Green: MVPs of 2025
- Blue: SEC football stadiums
- Purple: Starts with an MLB team in singular form
Connections Sports Edition #464 answers
Spoilers for the complete solution follow. Parade lists the four groups below; the hockey player’s first name appears with two spellings across the answer guides reviewed.
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- Variety puzzles/game books assorted
| Category | Answers |
|---|---|
| Sports film of 2025 | F1; Happy Gilmore 2; Marty Supreme; The Smashing Machine |
| MVPs of 2025 | A’ja Wilson; Connor Hellebuyck; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander; Shohei Ohtani |
| SEC football stadiums | Bryant-Denny; Jordan-Hare; Kyle; Sanford |
| Starts with an MLB team in singular form | Angel Reese; Ray Allen; Red Auerbach; Tiger Woods |
Why the purple group connects
The first word of each name is also a singular MLB team name: Angel, Ray, Red, and Tiger. The connection is wordplay; it does not mean Reese, Allen, Auerbach, and Woods are MLB players.
A note on the Hellebuyck spelling
Parade prints the hockey player’s name as “Conner Hellebuyck.” The AOL republication of Mashable and a CNET-attributed summary use “Connor Hellebuyck,” the spelling shown in the answer table. The reviewed guides do not include the original NYT puzzle board, so this guide preserves the discrepancy rather than presenting Parade’s transcription as settled.
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