NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for June 18, 2025

Connections: Sports Edition puzzle #268, published June 18, 2025, groups NFL teams, college football bowls, recent NWSL champions and scrambled MLB team names. Start with the spoiler-light clues below; the category labels and full answer sets follow.

Spoiler-light hints

• One group consists of teams from the same professional football division.
• Look for college football bowl games, including names in the vein of Fiesta, Peach and Orange.
• Another group draws on recent champions in women’s professional soccer.
• The trickiest group scrambles the names of teams from a different sport.

Category names

• NFC South teams
• College football bowl games
• Last four NWSL champions
• Anagrams of MLB teams

Full answers for puzzle #268

Stop here if you want to solve the groups yourself. The four sets are:

#	Preview	Product	Price
1		Puzzle Mania!: Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, Minis and More! (New York Times Games Books)	$26.60	Buy on Amazon
2		The New York Times Strictly Medium Crossword Puzzles Volume 1: 200 Medium Puzzles	$7.75	Buy on Amazon
3		The New York Times A Puzzle a Day: 365 Crossword Puzzles for a Year of Fun	$12.00	Buy on Amazon
4		The New York Times Greatest Hits of Monday Crossword Puzzles: 100 Easy Puzzles	$6.99	Buy on Amazon
5		The New York Times Mega Book of Sunday Crosswords: 500 Puzzles	$11.71	Buy on Amazon

• NFC South teams: Atlanta, Carolina, New Orleans, Tampa Bay
• College football bowl games: Holiday, Music City, Rose, Sugar
• Last four NWSL champions: Gotham, Pride, Spirit, Thorns
• Anagrams of MLB teams: Gleans, Roasts, Stem, Traipse

How the purple anagrams resolve

Each purple-group entry rearranges into an MLB team name: Gleans becomes Angels, Roasts becomes Astros, Stem becomes Mets, and Traipse becomes Pirates.

About this dated puzzle

This is the answer guide for Connections: Sports Edition puzzle #268, dated June 18, 2025. Parade and Yahoo Sports published matching category groups and answers; Yahoo Sports also gives the MLB-team anagram mappings. The available answer guides corroborate the key, though an official NYT or The Athletic archival board for this specific puzzle was not established.

Quick Recap

SaleBestseller No. 1

Puzzle Mania!: Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, Minis and More! (New York Times Games Books)

$26.60

SaleBestseller No. 2

The New York Times Strictly Medium Crossword Puzzles Volume 1: 200 Medium Puzzles

$7.75

SaleBestseller No. 3

The New York Times A Puzzle a Day: 365 Crossword Puzzles for a Year of Fun

$12.00

SaleBestseller No. 4

The New York Times Greatest Hits of Monday Crossword Puzzles: 100 Easy Puzzles

$6.99

SaleBestseller No. 5

The New York Times Mega Book of Sunday Crosswords: 500 Puzzles

$11.71

Best Value

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The New York Times Mega Book of Sunday Crosswords: 500 Puzzles

$11.71

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Rank #4

Sale

The New York Times Greatest Hits of Monday Crossword Puzzles: 100 Easy Puzzles

$6.99

Buy on Amazon

Rank #3

Sale

The New York Times A Puzzle a Day: 365 Crossword Puzzles for a Year of Fun

$12.00

Buy on Amazon

Rank #2

Sale

The New York Times Strictly Medium Crossword Puzzles Volume 1: 200 Medium Puzzles

$7.75

Buy on Amazon

#1 Best Overall

Sale

Puzzle Mania!: Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, Minis and More! (New York Times Games Books)

$26.60

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