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NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle #284, for Friday, July 4, 2025, groups words about monetary rewards, Texas basketball, Nathan’s hot dog eating contest winners, and phrases beginning with “hot.” Start with the spoiler-safe hints below, or jump to the full answer key.
Spoiler-safe hints for July 4
- Yellow: “Cha-ching”
- Green: “Sports in The Lone Star State”
- Blue: “Cookout staple”
- Purple: “Opposite of cold”
These clues are from Parade’s July 4 answer guide. The game asks players to sort 16 words into four groups of four; its instruction, as Parade attributes it to the NYT site, is to “group sports terms that share a common thread.”
Full answers for puzzle #284
Spoilers below. The four category labels and their words are:
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | A monetary reward | PRIZE, PURSE, STAKES, WINNINGS |
| Green | A Texas basketball player | MAVERICK, ROCKET, SPUR, WING |
| Blue | Nathan’s hot dog eating contest winners | BERTOLETTI, CHESTNUT, KOBAYASHI, SUDO |
| Purple | HOT ____ | CORNER, DOG, HAND, STOVE |
How the connections fit
Yellow: A monetary reward
PRIZE, PURSE, STAKES, and WINNINGS all refer to money or a reward connected with winning, competition, or an outcome.
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Green: A Texas basketball player
MAVERICK, ROCKET, and SPUR point to Texas professional basketball teams; WING is a basketball position. The category label ties these basketball terms together.
Blue: Nathan’s hot dog eating contest winners
BERTOLETTI, CHESTNUT, KOBAYASHI, and SUDO are names associated with winners of Nathan’s hot dog eating contest. This is the food-contest connection in a puzzle otherwise built around sports references.
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Purple: HOT ____
Add HOT before CORNER, DOG, HAND, or STOVE to make familiar phrases: hot corner, hot dog, hot hand, and hot stove.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What game this is
This is Connections: Sports Edition, not the standard NYT Connections puzzle. Parade describes it as a partnership between The New York Times and The Athletic and says the daily puzzle resets at 12 a.m. EST. The answer pages for this date identify it as puzzle #284. Their published answer groupings agree.
Rank #3
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- PLAY AND LEARN: Are you looking for an entertaining way to learn about the good ‘ole USA? Playing the American Trivia Game, you will learn about historical landmarks, tourist spots, famous people, and the pop culture that has forged this great country.
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Readers discussing the puzzle at the time used wording such as “tricky,” but that reflects individual comments rather than a measured consensus.
Quick Recap
Best Value
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