NYT Connections · Sports Edition · #655
NYT Connections Sports Edition Hints & Answers (#655) — 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.
Traps & Misdirects for July 10, 2026
The decoys built into this puzzle — and why each one bites.
BOWLS Decoy
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.
READ Decoy
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.
DUCK Decoy
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.
JERSEY Decoy
You're probably thinking of the US state or a cow breed, but here it's simply the garment an athlete wears.
Sports Connections Word Clues for July 10, 2026
Spoiler-free meaning for every name in the grid.
BOWLS
Sounds like Todd Bowles — the cricket association is a deliberate red herring placed to pull you toward the wrong group.
CAMPY
Roy Campanella's nickname — the Brooklyn Dodgers catcher who won three NL MVP awards.
CENTURY
A batter scoring 100 or more runs in a single innings — a major milestone.
DUCK
Not the bird — a batter's score of zero before being dismissed.
GLEN
Sounds like the surname of an NFL head coach — easy to dismiss as a Scottish valley or a first name.
I-ROD
Ivan Rodriguez's nickname — and since PUDGE also belonged to him, having both on the grid is the puzzle's biggest misdirect.
JERSEY
Looks like the US state or a cow breed; here it's just the numbered shirt on an athlete's back.
KIT
The British term for a full playing strip — shirt, shorts, socks and all.
MORE
Sounds like an NFL head coach's last name — the comparative adjective is pure camouflage.
PUDGE
Carlton Fisk's famous nickname — he carried it first, though Ivan Rodriguez later shared it.
READ
Pronounced 'REED' — a homophone for Andy Reid, the longtime Kansas City Chiefs head coach.
SWEATER
The hockey world's preferred word for a jersey — especially in Canadian usage.
UNIFORM
The most formal word of the four — used in baseball and American football more than anywhere else.
WICKET
The set of three stumps and two bails that a bowler is trying to hit.
YOGI
Yogi Berra — Yankees legend, World Series champion ten times over, and philosopher of the accidental one-liner.
YORKER
A delivery pitched right at the batter's feet — one of the hardest balls to face.
Sports Connections Hints for July 10, 2026
Reveal exactly what you need — a hint, the group name, or a single word.
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Sports Connections Answers for July 10, 2026
Full spoilers — all four groups revealed.
Yellow group
An athlete's shirt
- 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.
Green group
Cricket terms
- 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.
Blue group
Nicknames of hall of fame catchers
- 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.
Purple group
Homophones of nfl head coaches
- 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.