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Today's Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one, but I thought the categories were creative. The purple one is pretty challenging, but after I solved it, I appreciated the puzzle creator's work! If you're struggling with today's puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.
Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn't appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic's own app. Or you can play it for 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: Home of the 500.
Green group hint: Hoops.
Blue group hint: Great White North.
Purple group hint: Sounds like a star's name.
Answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Indianapolis teams.
Green group: Basketball games.
Blue group: CFL teams.
Purple group: Homophones of Super Bowl MVPs.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today's Connections: Sports Edition answers?
The completed NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026.
NYT/Screenshot by CNETThe yellow words in today's Connections
The theme is Indianapolis teams. The four answers are Butler, Colts, Fever and Pacers.
The green words in today's Connections
The theme is basketball games. The four answers are 21, Around the World, HORSE and Knockout.
The blue words in today's Connections
The theme is CFL teams. The four answers are Alouettes, Elks, Roughriders and Stampeders.
The purple words in today's Connections
The theme is homophones of Super Bowl MVPs. The four answers are breeze (Drew Brees), cup (Cooper Kupp), foals (Nick Foles) and swan (Lynn Swann).
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