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NYT Connections Sports Edition · #698

NYT Connections Sports Edition Hints & Answers (#698) — August 22, 2026

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“Work out the Purple group on paper — say each word aloud and ask what famous bowl game it almost sounds like.Today's puzzle has BAY and WAVE, both carrying history. BAY appeared in Connections #670 (Jul 25, 2026) as part of compound words starting with GREEN. WAVE appeared in Connections #651 (Jul 6, 2026) as part of San Diego team names.”

NYT Sports Connections hints for August 22, 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 BAYShort for Bay FC, the San Francisco Bay Area's NWSL team.
2 BEACHSwap B for P and you get the Peach Bowl — the California coastline reading is the bait.
3 BEAN BAGDropped by the referee to mark where a kick was caught — less famous than the flag but just as official.
4 COINUsed for the pre-game toss that decides who kicks off.
5 EARTHQUAKESSan Jose Earthquakes — one of the founding MLS clubs.
6 FLAGThe yellow penalty flag a referee throws to stop play — not a national banner.
7 GALAXYLA Galaxy — the MLS club made globally famous by Beckham.
8 GRANGESwap G for O and you get the Orange Bowl — nothing agricultural about it.
9 HOSESwap H for R and you get the Rose Bowl — the most famous bowl game of all.
10 INDISPENSABLEThe longest word here and the clearest — impossible to do without.
11 KEYLooks like it could be geographic or musical, but here it simply means essential.
12 PIVOTALFrom pivot — a turning point so important everything depends on it.
13 SIESTASwap S for F and you get the Fiesta Bowl — a nap in disguise.
14 VITALThe most medical-sounding of the four — vital signs, vital organs — but the meaning is the same: necessary.
15 WAVEThe San Diego Wave FC — an NWSL club, not a surfing reference.
16 WHISTLEThe referee's primary tool for stopping and starting play.
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 All four say the same thing: this matters a lot.
See Group IMPORTANT
See WordKEY
See WordVITAL
See WordPIVOTAL
See WordINDISPENSABLE
See Hint Spot these on the field and you know someone just made a call.
See Group ACCESSORIES FOR A FOOTBALL REFEREE
See WordFLAG
See WordWHISTLE
See WordCOIN
See WordBEAN BAG
See Hint Each one is part of a pro soccer club's name up the California coast.
See Group CALIFORNIA SOCCER TEAMS
See WordBAY
See WordWAVE
See WordGALAXY
See WordEARTHQUAKES
See Hint Each word is one letter away from a stadium packed on New Year's Day.
See Group COLLEGE FOOTBALL BOWL GAMES, WITH THE FIRST LETTER CHANGED
See WordSIESTA
See WordHOSE
See WordBEACH
See WordGRANGE
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 BEACH Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably reading it as California coastline — a natural fit for a California-themed group — but here it's a bowl game name with its first letter swapped out.
2 HOSE Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably picturing a garden hose and wondering what it has to do with sports at all — but the puzzle is using it as a disguised version of a very famous college football game.
3 KEY Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably thinking of a map key, a musical key, or even the Florida Keys — but here it's just a plain adjective meaning essential, nothing geographic about it.
4 GRANGE Tap to see why this word traps.
You're probably thinking of a farm building or an agricultural movement — but the puzzle is using it as a transformed bowl game name, not anything rural.

NYT Sports Connections answers for August 22, 2026

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

Y IMPORTANT · Yellow · easiest
  • KEY
  • VITAL
  • PIVOTAL
  • INDISPENSABLE

KEY, VITAL, PIVOTAL and INDISPENSABLE all mean crucial or essential. PIVOTAL is the most interesting etymologically — it comes from the literal pivot point a machine turns on, which is why it carries a sense of a moment everything swings around.

G ACCESSORIES FOR A FOOTBALL REFEREE · Green · easy
  • FLAG
  • WHISTLE
  • COIN
  • BEAN BAG

FLAG, WHISTLE, COIN and BEAN BAG are all items a football referee carries or uses during a game. The BEAN BAG is the least-known — referees drop it to mark where a kick was fielded, not where the play ended.

B CALIFORNIA SOCCER TEAMS · Blue · medium
  • BAY
  • WAVE
  • GALAXY
  • EARTHQUAKES

BAY, WAVE, GALAXY and EARTHQUAKES are all partial names of California professional soccer teams — San Jose Earthquakes, LA Galaxy, San Diego Wave and Bay FC. GALAXY is the most recognisable thanks to David Beckham's time there.

P COLLEGE FOOTBALL BOWL GAMES, WITH THE FIRST LETTER CHANGED · Purple · hardest
  • SIESTA
  • HOSE
  • BEACH
  • GRANGE

SIESTA, HOSE, BEACH and GRANGE are each a real college football bowl game with its first letter replaced: Fiesta→Siesta, Rose→Hose, Peach→Beach, Orange→Grange. HOSE is the toughest — nothing about it screams football until you swap the H back to R.

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