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Today’s Connections: Sports Edition has some logos mixed into the grid. I spotted my local college, the University of Washington, but that doesn’t mean I was able to immediately make all the connections. If you’re struggling 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 show up in the NYT Games app but appears 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: Are we in first?
Green group hint: Woof!
Blue group hint: Color my world.
Purple group hint: Vital element in many sports.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Ways to show standings in different sports.
Green group: Teams named after dog breeds.
Blue group: Teams whose nicknames are colors.
Purple group: ____ ball.
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 Oct. 5, 2025.
NYT/Screenshot by CNET
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is ways to show standings in different sports. The four answers are leaderboard, rankings, standings and table.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is teams named after dog breeds. The four answers are Connecticut, Georgia, Gonzaga and Washington.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is teams whose nicknames are colors. The four answers are Cincinnati, St. Louis, Stanford and Syracuse.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is ____ ball. The four answers are banana, breaking, medicine and ping-pong.
