Today’s grid is built for fans who speak fluent sports: four hidden quartets span a win column, four franchises that start with “W,” campus shorthand and the pass-rush legends who hit 20 sacks in a season.
The New York Times and The Athletic teamed up to give puzzle addicts a daily dose of sports trivia, and the January 21 reset is already lighting up group chats. If you need a nudge—or the outright answers—before your streak evaporates, this is the fastest route to a clean solve.
How the Sports Edition Works
Same 16-tile format as the original Connections, but every word is plucked from arenas, fields, courts and locker rooms. You still hunt four categories of four, only this time the threads are stat lines, franchise names and the slang only superfans use.
Color-Coded Clues for Jan. 21
- Yellow: Don’t lose!
- Green: Double you.
- Blue: Slang for certain sports teams.
- Purple: Meet at the quarterback.
Exact Categories Revealed
- Yellow – VICTORY: DUB, TRIUMPH, W, WIN
- Green – PRO TEAMS WHOSE NAMES START WITH W: WARRIORS, WHITE SOX, WILD, WIZARDS
- Blue – COLLOQUIAL NICKNAMES FOR COLLEGE TEAMS: CATS, HOOS, VOLS, ZAGS
- Purple – PLAYERS WITH 20-PLUS SACKS IN A SEASON: GARRETT, HOUSTON, WARE, WATT
Why Today’s Grid Matters
The VICTORY set is a reminder that sports lexicon has its own emoji-level shorthand—“dub” and “w” compress entire highlight reels into single syllables. Meanwhile, grouping WARRIORS, WHITE SOX, WILD and WIZARDS spotlights a quirky naming trend across leagues that most fans never notice.
On the college side, casual viewers might stare at HOOS and ZAGS, but alumni hear fight songs instantly. Finally, the 20-sack club is elite air: only seven NFL players have ever hit that number, so seeing four of them packed into one puzzle is a mini history lesson courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.
Streak Strategy Going Forward
Expect future boards to lean heavier on analytics-era numbers and social-media-born nicknames. Lock in the obvious wins first—today that meant spotting WIN and DUB—then isolate outlier letters or positions (all those W teams) before tackling the trivia-heavy purple tier.
Keep this page open tomorrow; we solve the next grid the instant it drops so you never break a streak again. For lightning-fast entertainment analysis, stay locked on onlytrustedinfo.com—your first look at the stories every fan will be talking about.
