NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle #535, published Thursday, March 12, 2026, groups 16 sports-related words into four sets of four. Start with the spoiler-safe hints below; the category names and full answers follow in a separate reveal.
Hints for March 12, 2026
Try each clue before moving on to the next. They point toward the four groups in puzzle order without listing the answers.
- Think of a city known as the City of Brotherly Love.
- Consider an NBA star and the teams and places connected to him.
- Grr! Meow! Roar! What do these sounds suggest?
- Think alphabet: some first names can be spoken as two letters.
Spoilers: answers for puzzle #535
The four categories and their words are:
- Philadelphia teams: 76ers, Flyers, Penn, Temple.
- Associated with Larry Bird: Celtics, French Lick, Pacers, Sycamores.
- Sports figures with animal names: Bear Bryant, Cat Osterman, Catfish Hunter, Tiger Woods.
- Sports figures whose first names sound like two letters: Casey Stengel (KC), CeeDee Lamb (CD), Katie Ledecky (KT), Vijay Singh (VJ).
How to read the trickier connections
Larry Bird’s teams and home state
The Bird group spans his basketball career and background: the Celtics and Pacers, the Indiana State Sycamores, and French Lick, Indiana, where he grew up.
Animal words in sports figures’ names
The animal references are embedded in the names: Bear, Cat, Catfish and Tiger. The set mixes nicknames and familiar name forms rather than four identical kinds of animal reference.
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First names that sound like initials
The final group depends on how the first names are said: Casey sounds like “KC,” CeeDee like “CD,” Katie like “KT,” and Vijay like “VJ.”
A note about conflicting answer labels
Parade’s March 12 page gives the same four answer groups listed above, but its category-label block conflicts with those answers and its answer section calls the puzzle #533 despite the page identifying it as #535. NewsATW independently reports #535 and the matching groups, so the answers here follow the corroborated groupings rather than Parade’s inconsistent labels.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How the Sports Edition grid works
Parade describes the game as 16 words split into four groups of four, with a sports focus. Its article attributes the instruction to the NYT site as “group sports terms that share a common thread.” Parade also says the game resets at 12 a.m. EST; that is the schedule it reports, not a verified worldwide reset time.
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