You're reading an archived Sports Connections puzzle from Aug 18, 2026 — the daily hints refresh every midnight.

Today's puzzle hints & answers →
Connections sportSports Connections Wordle Spelling Bee Browse all →
NYT Connections Sports Edition · #694

NYT Connections Sports Edition Hints & Answers (#694) — August 18, 2026

By ·

Earlier Aug 17 This puzzle Aug 18 Later Aug 19

“Lock in the two easy groups first, then slow down for the rest — the final two categories reward patience over sports knowledge.”

NYT Sports Connections hints for August 18, 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 BEATNIKSThe 1950s counterculture crowd — '-niks' at the end lands on the same Knicks sound.
2 BEHINDPositional in feel, but in this context it means your score is lower than your opponent's.
3 CHOWAmy Chow, one of the seven gymnasts who won the US team's first Olympic gymnastics gold.
4 CONCESSIONSNot a compromise — the food and drink stands inside the venue.
5 DAWESDominique Dawes, known as 'Awesome Dawesome' for her powerful floor routines.
6 DOWNLooks like a football term, but here it just means the score is against you.
7 FINICKSThird-person singular of 'finick', meaning to be overly fussy — ends in the '-nicks' sound.
8 LOSINGThe most direct word in the group — no ambiguity, no twist.
9 MILLERShannon Miller, the most decorated US gymnast of the 1996 Games.
10 PARKINGThe first expense of game day, before you even reach the gate.
11 PENIXNFL quarterback Michael Penix Jr.'s surname — the '-nix' ending is the hook, not the football connection.
12 PICNICSOutdoor lunches on a blanket — ends in '-nics', sounding exactly like Knicks.
13 PROGRAMThe printed booklet sold outside the stadium with rosters and stats.
14 STRUGKerri Strug, who stuck her famous injured-ankle vault to seal the team gold.
15 TICKETThe entry fee — without this, none of the other purchases matter.
16 TRAILINGThe most literal of the four — you are behind the leader, following their tail.
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 comeback speech hasn't happened yet.
See Group NOT WINNING
See WordDOWN
See WordTRAILING
See WordBEHIND
See WordLOSING
See Hint Open your wallet before the first whistle blows.
See Group PURCHASES AT A GAME
See WordPARKING
See WordTICKET
See WordPROGRAM
See WordCONCESSIONS
See Hint These four were golden in Atlanta thirty years ago.
See Group MEMBERS OF THE "MAGNIFICENT SEVEN"
See WordCHOW
See WordMILLER
See WordDAWES
See WordSTRUG
See Hint Each word ends with a sound a New York fan knows well.
See Group ENDS IN A HOMOPHONE FOR KNICKS
See WordPICNICS
See WordPENIX
See WordFINICKS
See WordBEATNIKS
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 DOWN Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably thinking of a football down — fourth and goal, that kind of thing — but here it's simply a synonym for trailing in score, nothing sport-specific.
2 PENIX Tap to see why this word traps.
Sports fans will immediately think of NFL quarterback Michael Penix Jr., which makes it tempting to hunt for a players category — but the puzzle is using this word for its sound, not its sports connection.
3 CONCESSIONS Tap to see why this word traps.
You might read this as giving ground in a negotiation or argument, but the puzzle means the food and drink stands inside a stadium.
4 FINICKS Tap to see why this word traps.
This one looks like a typo or nonsense word at first glance, but it's a real verb form — and the puzzle cares about how it ends, not what it means.

NYT Sports Connections answers for August 18, 2026

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

Y NOT WINNING · Yellow · easiest
  • DOWN
  • TRAILING
  • BEHIND
  • LOSING

DOWN, TRAILING, BEHIND and LOSING all describe a team or player who is not currently winning. These are the most interchangeable synonyms in the puzzle — any one of them fits the same sentence: 'We're ___ by three points.'

G PURCHASES AT A GAME · Green · easy
  • PARKING
  • TICKET
  • PROGRAM
  • CONCESSIONS

PARKING, TICKET, PROGRAM and CONCESSIONS are all things you typically pay for at a sporting event. Together they map the full cost of a game day — from the moment you arrive to the hot dog you eat in your seat.

B MEMBERS OF THE "MAGNIFICENT SEVEN" · Blue · medium
  • CHOW
  • MILLER
  • DAWES
  • STRUG

CHOW, MILLER, DAWES and STRUG are four members of the 1996 US Olympic women's gymnastics team, nicknamed the Magnificent Seven. Kerri STRUG is the most famous of the group — she vaulted on an injured ankle to clinch the team's gold medal, one of the defining moments of those Games.

P ENDS IN A HOMOPHONE FOR KNICKS · Purple · hardest
  • PICNICS
  • PENIX
  • FINICKS
  • BEATNIKS

PICNICS, PENIX, FINICKS and BEATNIKS all end in a sound that is a homophone of 'Knicks' — the NBA's New York team. The ending appears as '-nics', '-nix' or '-nicks' depending on the word, but they all land on the same sound.

Try another puzzle

Two more NazoKai hints, ready when you are.

Connections

Today's group hints & answers

Open

Wordle

Today's hint ladder & answer

Open