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NYT Connections Sports Edition #540: Hints and Answers for March 17, 2026

Hints and all four answer groups for Connections Sports Edition #540 on March 17, 2026, with spoiler-friendly reveals.
Length1 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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Need help with Tuesday, March 17, 2026’s Connections Sports Edition? Start with four graduated clues below, then reveal the category names and complete answer groups only when you’re ready. Puzzle #540 has 16 words to sort into four groups of four.

Hints for Connections Sports Edition #540

Try the clues in order and stop as soon as you have enough to make your next guess.

  1. Hockey division
  2. Sporting goods
  3. Some are birds
  4. Sounds like a star hoops player

Spoilers: the four category names

The groups are A Western Conference NHL player, Baseball equipment, Items in NFL logos, and Homophones of basketball Hall of Famers.

Spoilers: Connections #540 answers

Color Category Words
Yellow A Western Conference NHL player BLACKHAWK, BLUE, OILER, SHARK
Green Baseball equipment BASE, BAT, DONUT, TEE
Blue Items in NFL logos BOLT, FLEUR-DE-LIS, HORSESHOE, SWORDS
Purple Homophones of basketball Hall of Famers BERRY, DUNKIN, MORNING, WEIGHED

How the game works

Connections Sports Edition is a sports-themed word puzzle from The New York Times and The Athletic. Its instruction is to “group sports terms that share a common thread.” The board contains 16 words, which resolve into four groups of four.

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