NYT Connections Sports Edition · #690

NYT Connections Sports Edition Hints & Answers (#690) — August 14, 2026

By Sneha Rajput·August 14, 2026

“Before you lock in any group, read every word to its last syllable — one category only reveals itself when you hear what each entry ends with.Today's puzzle has FIELD GOAL, which also appeared in Connections #676 (Jul 31, 2026). It was part of ways a football drive can end.”

NYT Sports Connections hints for August 14, 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 →

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 9-IRONA golf club whose name ends in iron (Fe) — the most straightforward entry once the category clicks.

2 ADAM SILVERThe NBA Commissioner whose last name is the element Ag — the sports-executive surface reading is the entire trap.

3 AMERICANThe American Athletic Conference — easy to overlook as a proper conference name because the word feels so generic.

4 BREEZEA win so easy it barely registers — you just blew through it.

5 BRONZE MEDALThird place on the podium; BRONZE looks like a metal clue but the link here is the number 3, not the alloy.

6 CUPCAKEScheduling slang for a soft, non-threatening opponent on the early calendar.

7 DALE EARNHARDTNASCAR legend whose iconic car number was 3 — the Intimidator.

8 FIELD GOALWorth exactly 3 points in American football — the kicker's contribution to the scoreboard.

9 HAT TRICKThree goals by one player in a single game — the classic three-of-a-kind achievement in sport.

10 KAHLEAH COPPERWNBA star whose surname is the element Cu — easy to file under basketball and never look further.

11 MACMid-American Conference — looks like an abbreviation for anything, but it's a specific college athletic league.

12 MOUNTAIN WESTA Group of 6 conference anchored by schools in the Rocky Mountain and western states.

13 PHOENIX MERCURYThe WNBA franchise whose team name is also the liquid metal element Hg on the periodic table.

14 PUSHOVERSomeone who folds without putting up a fight — the most everyday term of the four.

15 SUN BELTA Group of 6 conference covering schools across the southern US.

16 TOMATO CANBoxing slang for a journeyman opponent brought in to lose; looks like a grocery item, acts like a punching bag.

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

What a confident coach calls the other team's weakest scheduled opponent.

See Group

EASY OPPONENT

See Word

BREEZE

See Word

CUPCAKE

See Word

PUSHOVER

See Word

TOMATO CAN

See Hint

These four share a bracket in college athletics below the biggest programs.

See Group

"GROUP OF 6" COLLEGE CONFERENCES

See Word

SUN BELT

See Word

MAC

See Word

MOUNTAIN WEST

See Word

AMERICAN

See Hint

Say the number out loud and each of these snaps into place.

See Group

ASSOCIATED WITH 3

See Word

DALE EARNHARDT

See Word

BRONZE MEDAL

See Word

HAT TRICK

See Word

FIELD GOAL

See Hint

Each one finishes with something you'd find on a periodic table.

See Group

ENDS IN AN ELEMENT ON THE PERIODIC TABLE

See Word

KAHLEAH COPPER

See Word

PHOENIX MERCURY

See Word

ADAM SILVER

See Word

9-IRON

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 BRONZE MEDAL Tap to see why this word traps.

You're probably thinking of bronze as a metal, which makes it feel like it belongs with the element-ending group — but bronze is not on the periodic table, and the puzzle needs the final word to be the element, not the whole thing.

2 ADAM SILVER Tap to see why this word traps.

You're almost certainly reading him as the NBA Commissioner, a sports executive — but the puzzle is using his surname as a chemistry term, not a job title.

3 PHOENIX MERCURY Tap to see why this word traps.

You're probably thinking of the WNBA franchise — but the puzzle is treating MERCURY as a chemical element, not a team name.

4 TOMATO CAN Tap to see why this word traps.

You're picturing a tin of tomatoes from a grocery shelf, but this is boxing slang for a fighter who is there to lose.

NYT Sports Connections answers for August 14, 2026

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

Y EASY OPPONENT · Yellow · easiest

BREEZE
CUPCAKE
PUSHOVER
TOMATO CAN

BREEZE, CUPCAKE, PUSHOVER and TOMATO CAN are all slang for an easy opponent. TOMATO CAN is the most colourful — it comes from boxing, where a low-level fighter brought in to pad a record is said to go down as easily as a tin can.

G "GROUP OF 6" COLLEGE CONFERENCES · Green · easy

SUN BELT
MAC
MOUNTAIN WEST
AMERICAN

SUN BELT, MAC, MOUNTAIN WEST and AMERICAN are all members of the Group of 6 — the tier of college athletic conferences just below the Power 4. MAC stands for Mid-American Conference, making it the easiest entry to second-guess since it looks like a generic abbreviation.

B ASSOCIATED WITH 3 · Blue · medium

DALE EARNHARDT
BRONZE MEDAL
HAT TRICK
FIELD GOAL

DALE EARNHARDT, BRONZE MEDAL, HAT TRICK and FIELD GOAL are all associated with the number 3. Earnhardt wore #3, a bronze medal is third place, a hat trick is three goals, and a field goal in American football scores 3 points.

P ENDS IN AN ELEMENT ON THE PERIODIC TABLE · Purple · hardest

KAHLEAH COPPER
PHOENIX MERCURY
ADAM SILVER
9-IRON

KAHLEAH COPPER, PHOENIX MERCURY, ADAM SILVER and 9-IRON all end in a chemical element — copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), silver (Ag) and iron (Fe) respectively. The trick is that three of the four are real sports figures or teams, so your brain files them under basketball before it ever reaches the chemistry.

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