Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Aug. 21, #332

Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Aug. 21, #332

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Aug. 21, No. 332.

Headshot of Gael Cooper
Headshot of Gael Cooper

CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.

Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, and generational studies Credentials

  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.


To solve today's Connections: Sports Edition, focus on the endings of some of the words. That should help you see how they connect. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta after making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 9. That's a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn't show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic's own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.  

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: What you want to do.

Green group hint: Football abbreviations.

Blue group hint: Home to hoops.

Purple group hint: Hidden hockey team names.

Answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Objective.

Green group: NFL teams, on scoreboards.

Blue group: NBA arenas ending with "Center."

Purple group: Ends with an NHL team.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today's Connections: Sports Edition answers?

completed NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Aug. 21, 2025

The completed NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Aug. 21, 2025.

NYT/Screenshot by CNET

The yellow words in today's Connections

The theme is objective. The four answers are aim, goal, mark and target.

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is NFL teams, on scoreboards. The four answers are CHI, MIA, MIN and NO. (Chicago, Miami, Minnesota and New Orleans.)

The blue words in today's Connections

The theme is NBA arenas ending with "Center." The four answers are Barclays, Chase, Delta and Kia.

The purple words in today's Connections

The theme is ends with an NHL team. The four answers are geoducks, spoilers, superstars and Vikings. (Ducks, Oilers, Stars and Kings.)

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