Get ready for the Super Bowl with hints and answers for Connections: Sports Edition No. 136 for Feb. 6.
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” She’s been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She’s Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line.
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Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won “Headline Writer of the Year” award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism. Looking for the most recent Connections: Sports Edition answers? Click here for today’s Connections: Sports Edition hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Strands puzzles.
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition might be tough. It kind of depends on how well you know American football and also the sport Americans call soccer but Europeans call football. Read on for hints and answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle.
And you should know that Connections: Sports Edition is coming out of beta on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will be continuing to publish it. It won’t show up in the NYT Games app but will appear in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.
Read more: NYT Has a Connections Game for Sports Fans. I Tried It
Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groupsHere 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: Buying or selling
Green group hint: Think football in Europe.
Blue group hint: Comes from a military term.
Purple group hint: The word itself can mean offensive or smelly
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groupsYellow group: Transaction
Green group: Soccer positions
Blue group: Types of blitzes
Purple group: Foul ____
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 Feb. 6, 2025, #136.
NYT/Screenshot by CNETThe yellow words in today’s ConnectionsThe theme is transaction. The four answers are deal, exchange, trade and transfer.
The green words in today’s ConnectionsThe theme is soccer positions. The four answers are fullback, goalkeeper, midfielder and striker.
The blue words in today’s ConnectionsThe theme is types of blitzes. The four answers are safety, simulated, zero and zone.
The purple words in today’s ConnectionsThe theme is foul ____. The four answers are ball, out, pole and territory.
Quick tips for Connections: Sports Edition#1: Don’t grab for the easiest group. For each word, think about other sports categories it might fit in – is this a word that can be used in horseracing, or to describe football scoring options?
#2: Second meanings are important. The puzzle loves to use last names and even college names that mean other things, to fool you into thinking they are words, not names.
#3: And the opposite is also true. Words like HURTS might seem like a regular word, but it’s also the last name of at least one pro athlete.
