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Today's Connections: Sports Edition is fairly diverse. The topics are kind of all over the place -- hope you know your movies, for one thing. 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: Snowy season.
Green group hint: Fire it in there.
Blue group hint: Sports equipment.
Purple group hint: Cinema titles.
Answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Winter sports.
Green group: Stat for a pitcher.
Blue group: Sports balls.
Purple group: Last words of boxing movies.
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 March 18, 2026.
NYT/Screenshot by CNETThe yellow words in today's Connections
The theme is winter sports. The four answers are curling, hockey, luge and skeleton.
The green words in today's Connections
The theme is stat for a pitcher. The four answers are hold, quality start, save and win.
The blue words in today's Connections
The theme is sports balls. The four answers are cue, golf, medicine and ping pong.
The purple words in today's Connections
The theme is last words of boxing movies. The four answers are Baby (Million Dollar Baby), Balboa (Rocky Balboa), Bull (Raging Bull) and Fighter (The Fighter).
Toughest Connections: Sports Edition categories
The Connections: Sports Edition puzzle can be tough, but it really depends on which sports you know the most about. My husband aces anything having to do with Formula 1, my best friend is a hockey buff, and I can answer any question about Minnesota teams.
That said, it's hard to pick the toughest Connections categories, but here are some I found exceptionally mind-blowing.
#1: Serie A Clubs. Answers: Atalanta, Juventus, Lazio, Roma.
#2: WNBA MVPs. Answers: Catchings, Delle Donne, Fowles and Stewart.
#3: Premier League team nicknames. Answers: Bees, Cherries, Foxes and Hammers.
#4: Homophones of NBA player names. Answers: Barns, Connect, Heart and Hero.