Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Oct. 10, No. 382.
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.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, and generational studies Credentials
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 regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a fun one. The blue category will help you look ahead to winter sports. 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 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 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: Fire it in there.
Green group hint: Toss it downfield.
Blue group hint: Speed down the hill.
Purple group hint: Waltz across the floor.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groupsYellow group: Fastball.
Green group: Football passing routes.
Blue group: Alpine skiing disciplines.
Purple group: Athletes to win “Dancing With The Stars.”
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. 10, 2025.
NYT/Screenshot by CNETThe yellow words in today’s ConnectionsThe theme is fastball. The four answers are cheese, four-seamer, gas and heat.
The green words in today’s ConnectionsThe theme is football passing routes. The four answers are drag, post, slant and wheel.
The blue words in today’s ConnectionsThe theme is alpine skiing disciplines.The four answers are combined, downhill, slalom and Super-G.
The purple words in today’s ConnectionsThe theme is athletes to win “Dancing With The Stars.” The four answers are Driver, Ohno, Shumpert and Yamaguchi.
Toughest Connections: Sports Edition categoriesThe 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 recently.
#1: Series A Clubs, Jan. 11. Answers: Atalanta, Juventus, Lazio, Roma.
#2: WNBA MVPs, Jan. 21. Answers: Catchings, Delle Donne, Fowles and Stewart.
#3: Premier League team nicknames, Jan. 17. Answers: Bees, Cherries, Foxes and Hammers.
#4: Homophones of NBA player names, Jan. 26. Answers: Barns, Connect, Heart and Hero.
