NYT Connections Sports Edition · #704

NYT Connections Sports Edition Hints & Answers (#704) — August 28, 2026

By Sneha Rajput·August 28, 2026

“Lock in the baseball stats first — that group is clean and fast. Once those four are gone, the remaining words have less room to hide.”

NYT Sports Connections hints for August 28, 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 AIKMANTroy Aikman wore #8 as the Dallas Cowboys quarterback who won three Super Bowls.

2 ALABAMAThe flagship state university, home of the Crimson Tide.

3 AUBURNLooks like a hair colour; here it's Alabama's other major university and Alabama's fierce rival.

4 BATTING AVERAGEHits divided by at-bats — the oldest and most recognised hitter metric.

5 BERRAYogi Berra wore #8 for the New York Yankees throughout his Hall of Fame career as a catcher.

6 GOALSLooks like a generic stat; here it points to Haaland, who scores them at a historically unprecedented rate.

7 HOME RUNSThe glamour stat — four bases on one swing, tracked obsessively since Babe Ruth.

8 JACKSONLamar Jackson wears #8 for the Baltimore Ravens, the number he has carried since arriving in the NFL.

9 MANCHESTER CITYThe Premier League club where Haaland became the most prolific scorer in the division's history.

10 NORWAYHaaland's home country and the national team he represents.

11 OVECHKINAlex Ovechkin has worn #8 for the Washington Capitals throughout his record-breaking NHL career.

12 RBISRuns Batted In — measures how often a hitter drives teammates home.

13 RUNSThe plain member of the group; counts how many times the hitter themselves crosses home plate.

14 TROYSounds like ancient Greece or a first name; it's actually Troy University in Troy, Alabama.

15 UABUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham — the acronym that makes solvers pause.

16 ZEN POSELooks like a yoga position; it's actually Haaland's cross-legged goal celebration on the pitch.

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 box score line every fantasy baseball manager checks first.

See Group

STATS FOR A HITTER

See Word

HOME RUNS

See Word

RBIS

See Word

RUNS

See Word

BATTING AVERAGE

See Hint

You could drive between all four campuses without leaving one state.

See Group

ALABAMA SCHOOLS

See Word

ALABAMA

See Word

AUBURN

See Word

TROY

See Word

UAB

See Hint

A Norwegian striker left his mark on English football.

See Group

ASSOCIATED WITH ERLING HAALAND

See Word

ZEN POSE

See Word

MANCHESTER CITY

See Word

NORWAY

See Word

GOALS

See Hint

Four surnames, one number stitched on their backs.

See Group

FAMOUS NUMBER 8S

See Word

BERRA

See Word

AIKMAN

See Word

OVECHKIN

See Word

JACKSON

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 AUBURN Tap to see why this word traps.

You're probably reading it as a reddish-brown hair colour — but here it's a university, not a shade on a colour chart.

2 TROY Tap to see why this word traps.

You're probably thinking of the ancient Greek city or a first name — but the puzzle is using it as an Alabama institution, not mythology.

3 GOALS Tap to see why this word traps.

You're probably reading it as a generic scoring stat that could fit baseball — but the puzzle is using it in a soccer context, not a hitter's stat line.

4 ZEN POSE Tap to see why this word traps.

You're probably picturing a yoga or meditation position — but the puzzle is using it as a specific on-pitch celebration, not a wellness practice.

NYT Sports Connections answers for August 28, 2026

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

Y STATS FOR A HITTER · Yellow · easiest

HOME RUNS
RBIS
RUNS
BATTING AVERAGE

HOME RUNS, RBIS, RUNS and BATTING AVERAGE are all statistics tracked for a baseball hitter. BATTING AVERAGE is the most foundational of the four — it's the oldest hitting stat in the sport and the one most casual fans know by name.

G ALABAMA SCHOOLS · Green · easy

ALABAMA
AUBURN
TROY
UAB

ALABAMA, AUBURN, TROY and UAB are all universities located in the state of Alabama. UAB — the University of Alabama at Birmingham — is the easiest to miss because its name is an acronym rather than a city or colour.

B ASSOCIATED WITH ERLING HAALAND · Blue · medium

ZEN POSE
MANCHESTER CITY
NORWAY
GOALS

ZEN POSE, MANCHESTER CITY, NORWAY and GOALS are all associated with soccer star Erling Haaland. ZEN POSE is the standout — it refers to Haaland's signature goal celebration where he sits cross-legged on the pitch, which became one of football's most recognisable images.

P FAMOUS NUMBER 8S · Purple · hardest

BERRA
AIKMAN
OVECHKIN
JACKSON

BERRA, AIKMAN, OVECHKIN and JACKSON are all famous athletes who wore or wear jersey number 8. The group spans baseball (Yogi Berra), NFL quarterback (Troy Aikman), NHL (Alex Ovechkin) and NFL again (Lamar Jackson) — three sports in total, which is what makes it hard to pin down without specialist knowledge across all of them.

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