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NYT Connections Sports Edition puzzle #474 is from Saturday, January 10, 2026. Parade’s guide offers four progressive hints below, followed by the category labels and complete word groups for anyone ready for spoilers.
How Connections Sports Edition works
Parade describes Connections Sports Edition as a daily-reset puzzle with 16 words to sort into four groups of four. The New York Times instruction reproduced in its guide is to “group sports terms that share a common thread.” Parade identifies the game as a partnership between The New York Times and The Athletic. Read Parade’s January 10, 2026 guide.
Hints for Connections #474
Try these clues in order if you want a nudge without seeing the solutions. Each hint points toward one category.
- Yellow: Hockey players.
- Green: Not the whole name.
- Blue: Colleges.
- Purple: Gridiron groups.
Spoilers: category labels
The following labels reveal the four connections. Stop here if you still want to solve the board yourself.
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- Variety puzzles/game books assorted
- Yellow — A WESTERN CONFERENCE NHL PLAYER
- Green — NBA PLAYER NICKNAMES THAT ARE INITIALISMS
- Blue — ACC TEAMS, ABBREVIATED
- Purple — STARTS OF NFL TEAM NAMES
Spoilers: full answers for January 10
Here are the complete groups for puzzle #474, with each word kept as printed in Parade’s guide.
- Yellow: CANUCK, DUCK, KING, SHARK
- Green: AD, KD, LBJ, SGA
- Blue: FSU, ND, UNC, UVA
- Purple: BRON, CHAR, PACK, PANT
What links each group
Yellow: NHL player
CANUCK, DUCK, KING and SHARK are the four entries for the category labeled “A WESTERN CONFERENCE NHL PLAYER.”
Rank #2
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Green: NBA nickname initialisms
AD, KD, LBJ and SGA are NBA player nickname initialisms, as the category label specifies.
Blue: abbreviated ACC teams
FSU, ND, UNC and UVA are the abbreviated team entries in the ACC group.
Rank #3
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Purple: starts of NFL team names
BRON, CHAR, PACK and PANT are starts of NFL team names, not complete team names.
Quick Recap
Best Value
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Rank #4
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