NYT Connections Sports Edition · #655

NYT Connections Sports Edition Hints & Answers (#655) — July 10, 2026

By Sneha Rajput·July 10, 2026

“If a word feels like it fits two groups, trust the less obvious one — this puzzle is built on that exact hesitation.Today's puzzle has DUCK, which also appeared in Connections #312 (Mar 30, 2024). It was part of a group of words that follow a common word.”

NYT Sports Connections hints for July 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 →

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 BOWLSSounds like Todd Bowles — the cricket association is a deliberate red herring placed to pull you toward the wrong group.

2 CAMPYRoy Campanella's nickname — the Brooklyn Dodgers catcher who won three NL MVP awards.

3 CENTURYA batter scoring 100 or more runs in a single innings — a major milestone.

4 DUCKNot the bird — a batter's score of zero before being dismissed.

5 GLENSounds like the surname of an NFL head coach — easy to dismiss as a Scottish valley or a first name.

6 I-RODIvan Rodriguez's nickname — and since PUDGE also belonged to him, having both on the grid is the puzzle's biggest misdirect.

7 JERSEYLooks like the US state or a cow breed; here it's just the numbered shirt on an athlete's back.

8 KITThe British term for a full playing strip — shirt, shorts, socks and all.

9 MORESounds like an NFL head coach's last name — the comparative adjective is pure camouflage.

10 PUDGECarlton Fisk's famous nickname — he carried it first, though Ivan Rodriguez later shared it.

11 READPronounced 'REED' — a homophone for Andy Reid, the longtime Kansas City Chiefs head coach.

12 SWEATERThe hockey world's preferred word for a jersey — especially in Canadian usage.

13 UNIFORMThe most formal word of the four — used in baseball and American football more than anywhere else.

14 WICKETThe set of three stumps and two bails that a bowler is trying to hit.

15 YOGIYogi Berra — Yankees legend, World Series champion ten times over, and philosopher of the accidental one-liner.

16 YORKERA delivery pitched right at the batter's feet — one of the hardest balls to face.

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 player peels off after the final whistle.

See Group

AN ATHLETE'S SHIRT

See Word

JERSEY

See Word

KIT

See Word

UNIFORM

See Word

SWEATER

See Hint

A sport with stumps, overs, and very long lunches.

See Group

CRICKET TERMS

See Word

DUCK

See Word

CENTURY

See Word

WICKET

See Word

YORKER

See Hint

Behind the plate, and behind a memorable nickname.

See Group

NICKNAMES OF HALL OF FAME CATCHERS

See Word

PUDGE

See Word

YOGI

See Word

CAMPY

See Word

I-ROD

See Hint

Say each word aloud and think sidelines, not definitions.

See Group

HOMOPHONES OF NFL HEAD COACHES

See Word

BOWLS

See Word

READ

See Word

GLEN

See Word

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 BOWLS Tap to see why this word traps.

You're probably reading it as a cricket action — a bowler bowls — but here the puzzle is using it as a sound-alike for something completely outside cricket.

2 READ Tap to see why this word traps.

You're probably thinking of the verb or even a fielding position, but the puzzle is using it as a spoken sound that matches a proper name.

3 DUCK Tap to see why this word traps.

You're probably picturing the bird or the dodge — but in this puzzle it's a scoring term from a sport most Americans don't follow closely.

4 JERSEY Tap to see why this word traps.

You're probably thinking of the US state or a cow breed, but here it's simply the garment an athlete wears.

NYT Sports Connections answers for July 10, 2026

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

Y AN ATHLETE'S SHIRT · Yellow · easiest

JERSEY
KIT
UNIFORM
SWEATER

JERSEY, KIT, UNIFORM and SWEATER are all words for the shirt — or full outfit — an athlete wears during competition. JERSEY is the sneakiest here; most solvers flash to New Jersey before landing on the garment.

G CRICKET TERMS · Green · easy

DUCK
CENTURY
WICKET
YORKER

DUCK, CENTURY, WICKET and YORKER are all terms from cricket. DUCK is the most disorienting — it means a batter was dismissed without scoring a single run, and nothing about the word signals that.

B NICKNAMES OF HALL OF FAME CATCHERS · Blue · medium

PUDGE
YOGI
CAMPY
I-ROD

PUDGE, YOGI, CAMPY and I-ROD are all Hall of Fame nicknames for MLB catchers — Carlton Fisk, Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella and Ivan Rodriguez respectively. PUDGE and I-ROD are the trap: both nicknames belong to Ivan Rodriguez, so solvers may assume one is a decoy — but PUDGE here nods to Carlton Fisk, who wore it first.

P HOMOPHONES OF NFL HEAD COACHES · Purple · hardest

BOWLS
READ
GLEN
MORE

BOWLS, READ, GLEN and MORE are homophones of NFL head coaches' surnames — Todd Bowles, Andy Reid, and two other coaches whose names sound exactly like these common words. The puzzle requires you to hear the word rather than read it, which is why this group is nearly invisible on a screen.

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