You’re playing a different beast today. This one doesn’t live in the New York Times Games app. It’s from The Athletic. Subscriptions, yeah, but the puzzle is free to play online. Or on their app, if that’s your thing.
It’s the Connections: Sports Edition.
Puzzle #636 for June 21. And folks, that purple category was a nightmare.
I had never heard any of the words. Or the category. Before today.
If you’re stuck, here’s the breakdown.
Hints First
I like hints before answers. Gives the brain a little jump.
Yellow: Stars.
Green: The Bucs fit in here too.
Blue: Think World Cup winners.
Purple: Fore!
The Answers
Here’s how they sorted the pieces.
Yellow Group: A team’s best players
* A-team
* First string
* Regulars
* Starters
Simple. Almost too simple. You get these early and feel smart for a second.
Green Group: Informal nicknames for NFL teams
* Bolts
* G-Men
* Pack
* Vikes
These aren’t the official ones. Just the shorthand fans yell from bleachers.
Blue Group: Brazilian soccer greats
* Kaká
* Marta
* Pelé
* Ronaldinho
Big names. Everyone knows them. Even if you don’t watch soccer much, you’ve seen these faces on billboards.
Purple Group: Old terms for golf clubs
* Brassie
* Cleek
* Mashie
* Niblick
And here lies the trap.
Unless you’ve spent time in an antique shop or watched Caddyshack frame by frame, you aren’t touching these. What’s a brassie? What on earth is a mashie? They sound like kitchen utensils. They sound made up. But no, these are genuine archaic terms for wooden golf clubs.
What’s actually hard?
Sports trivia is weird.
It depends on what you watched as a kid. My husband breezes through Formula 1 questions. My friend eats hockey history for breakfast. I’m stuck knowing which Minnesota team did what in 1987.
But some categories hit you out of nowhere. No context clues. Just blank stares.
- Serie A Clubs: Atalanta, Juventus, Lazio, and Roma. You either know Italian football or you don’t.
- WNBA MVPs: Catchings, Delle Donne, Foules, Stewart. Respects due. But hard to guess if you didn’t tune in.
- Premier League nicknames: Bees, Cherries, Foxers, Hammers. Colors and animals everywhere.
It’s not fair to ask about obscure team nicknames on a random Tuesday.
Is it fair? No. But here we are.
Sometimes the puzzle beats you. That’s fine. Tomorrow might be easier. Or harder. Golf terms could pop up again. We’ll see.
How did you do?
