At a Glance
- The Athletic’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan. 16, 2026, stumped players with four tricky categories.
- Yellow group: protective gear; green group: hype; blue group: sharp things; purple group: “Southern ____” schools.
- Answers include gloves, helmet, buzz, dart, ice skate, and Methodist.
- Why it matters: Quick hints help daily players keep streaks alive without spoilers.
Puzzle fans hunting for today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers can stop scrolling. The Jan. 16 grid, labeled No. 480, delivered one of the toughest line-ups since the game exited beta, according to News Of Losangeles‘s Sophia A. Reynolds.
Hints for Jan. 16, 2026
Yellow (easiest): Think safety first. These four items keep athletes from getting hurt.
Green: Words that describe media noise around a big game.
Blue: Objects with pointed edges found in multiple sports.
Purple: Colleges whose names start with “Southern” followed by one more word.
Full answers revealed
Yellow – Protective gear
- gloves
- helmet
- mouth guard
- shoulder pads
Green – Hype
- anticipation
- ballyhoo
- buildup
- buzz
Blue – Sharp things
- dart
- hairpin turn
- ice skate
- javelin
Purple – “Southern ____” schools
- California
- Illinois
- Methodist
- Miss
Quick strategy reminders
- Don’t grab the obvious group first; test every word against football, basketball, tennis and niche sports.
- Watch for second meanings-last names and college names often masquerade as regular nouns.
- Conversely, ordinary words can hide athlete surnames; HURTS is both a verb and a pro quarterback’s last name.
The Athletic publishes the daily puzzle inside its own app and on its website; it does not appear in the main New York Times Games app. Players can access today’s completed grid online for free to check their work.
Key takeaways
- Today’s purple category forced players to think geographically about universities.
- The blue group mixed literal and figurative sharpness, from javelins to hairpin turns.
- Streak-saving hint: tackle the yellow protective-gear set first, then scan for hype synonyms before diving into the trickier blue and purple sections.
