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NYT Connections Sports Edition · #686

NYT Connections Sports Edition Hints & Answers (#686) — August 10, 2026

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Earlier Aug 9 This puzzle Aug 10 Later Aug 11

“When a word feels like it belongs to football or basketball, pause before committing — some of those words have a second life in a compound you use off the field.ACE appeared just six days ago in Connections #680 (Aug 4, 2026) as part of baseball pitching roles. Today it is firmly in a different sport. MISSISSIPPI STATE appeared in Connections #661 (Jul 16, 2026) among teams nicknamed the Bulldogs.”

NYT Sports Connections hints for August 10, 2026

Three levels of help — a definition for every word, colour-coded group nudges, and a heads-up on the traps. Skip to all answers →

1

Word clues

A spoiler-free definition for every word in the grid. Tap the eye on any card to reveal which colour-group it belongs to.

1 4Dak Prescott's jersey number with the Dallas Cowboys.
2 ACEA serve the returner never touches; appeared in a pitching context just last week, but today it's all tennis.
3 BARRELLooks like a container; here it means hitting the ball on the bat's sweet spot — a tracked Statcast metric.
4 COMBOA combo guard in basketball plays both backcourt positions — the GUARD suffix makes it a position, not just a combination.
5 COWBOYSThe Dallas NFL franchise Prescott has quarterbacked since 2016.
6 CRUSHGeneral power-hitting slang — you crushed that ball deep to left.
7 DOUBLE FAULTTwo consecutive failed serves — hands the point directly to the opponent.
8 LACELooks like shoelace material; here it means to stripe a hard line drive into the outfield.
9 MISSISSIPPI STATEPrescott's college — the Bulldogs; this word grouped with actual Bulldogs teams just last month.
10 MOUTHA mouth guard is the protective insert athletes wear to shield their teeth.
11 NOSEA nose guard is the defensive lineman who lines up over the center — also called a nose tackle.
12 OFFENSIVEAn offensive guard is the lineman who blocks beside the center — easy to miss when your brain reads it as a team side.
13 QUARTERBACKPrescott's position — the signal-caller who takes every snap.
14 SMOKESlang for hitting the ball with serious velocity off the bat.
15 UNFORCED ERRORA mistake the player made on their own, with no pressure from the opponent.
16 WINNERA shot that lands in and the opponent cannot reach — a clean point.
2

Group hints

Four colour-coded groups, easiest → hardest. Every button reveals the hint, the category name, or a single word — tap only what you need.

See Hint The scorekeeper writes these down after every point.
See Group TENNIS STAT
See WordWINNER
See WordACE
See WordUNFORCED ERROR
See WordDOUBLE FAULT
See Hint What the crowd says when the bat and ball meet perfectly.
See Group MAKE GOOD CONTACT (IN BASEBALL)
See WordCRUSH
See WordSMOKE
See WordBARREL
See WordLACE
See Hint One player's biography reads like this list.
See Group ASSOCIATED WITH DAK PRESCOTT
See Word4
See WordCOWBOYS
See WordMISSISSIPPI STATE
See WordQUARTERBACK
See Hint One word turns each of these into a protector.
See Group _____ GUARD
See WordCOMBO
See WordOFFENSIVE
See WordMOUTH
See WordNOSE
3

Words the puzzle wants you to mis-group

Read these before you guess — they're the words most likely to break a streak. Tap for the trap.

1 OFFENSIVE Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably reading it as a football adjective describing an entire unit — but here the puzzle uses it as the first half of a specific two-word position name, not a team side.
2 COMBO Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably thinking of the basketball term for a two-position player — that reading is the bait, but the puzzle is using it as a compound word, not a standalone basketball label.
3 BARREL Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably picturing a wooden container — but in this context it's a verb describing what happens when a batter finds the sweet spot of the bat.
4 LACE Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably thinking of a shoelace or decorative trim — but here it's baseball slang for driving the ball hard off the bat.

NYT Sports Connections answers for August 10, 2026

All four groups revealed, easiest first. Each card holds the theme, the four words, and why the group works.

Y TENNIS STAT · Yellow · easiest
  • WINNER
  • ACE
  • UNFORCED ERROR
  • DOUBLE FAULT

WINNER, ACE, UNFORCED ERROR and DOUBLE FAULT are all official tennis statistics tracked during a match. ACE is the most portable of the four — it travels across sports — but in this puzzle it belongs squarely on the tennis court.

G MAKE GOOD CONTACT (IN BASEBALL) · Green · easy
  • CRUSH
  • SMOKE
  • BARREL
  • LACE

CRUSH, SMOKE, BARREL and LACE are all baseball slang for making hard, solid contact with the ball. BARREL is the most technical — it refers specifically to hitting the ball on the bat's optimal impact zone, a metric now tracked by MLB's Statcast system.

B ASSOCIATED WITH DAK PRESCOTT · Blue · medium
  • 4
  • COWBOYS
  • MISSISSIPPI STATE
  • QUARTERBACK

4, COWBOYS, MISSISSIPPI STATE and QUARTERBACK are all directly associated with NFL player Dak Prescott — his jersey number, his team, his college, and his position. MISSISSIPPI STATE is the most obscure link for casual fans; Prescott played there before being drafted in the fourth round in 2016.

P _____ GUARD · Purple · hardest
  • COMBO
  • OFFENSIVE
  • MOUTH
  • NOSE

COMBO, OFFENSIVE, MOUTH and NOSE all precede the word GUARD to form a compound: combo guard, offensive guard, mouth guard, nose guard. OFFENSIVE is the sneakiest — most solvers lock it into football strategy before realising it names a specific lineman position.

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