Here are the hints and answers for NYT Connections Sports Edition puzzle #453, published for Saturday, December 20, 2025. Start with the clues below if you want to solve it yourself; the category names and word groups are in the spoiler section.
Hints for Connections Sports Edition #453
Parade’s guide to the December 20, 2025 puzzle gives these hints in order:
- Yellow: Make a plan.
- Green: Rainbow.
- Blue: All hail the king.
- Purple: One pride.
Tips to solve the puzzle
Begin with the words that clearly describe planning or tactics. Then look for the color connection among the team names. The “king” clue points toward LeBron James, while “One pride” points toward the Detroit Lions. The groupings below show how those clues map to all 16 words.
Answers for December 20, 2025
Spoilers below: these are the categories and complete word groups reported by Parade.
#1 Best Overall
Yellow — X’S AND O’S
PLAYBOOK, SCHEME, STRATEGY, TACTIC
Green — TEAMS WITH COLORFUL NICKNAMES
ALABAMA, COLUMBUS, TEXAS TECH, TULANE
Blue — LEBRON JAMES TEAMS
CLEVELAND, LOS ANGELES, MIAMI, ST. VINCENT-ST. MARY
Purple — MEMBERS OF THE DETROIT LIONS
BRANCH, MONTGOMERY, READER, ST. BROWN
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.About this dated puzzle
Parade identifies this as Sports Edition puzzle #453 for Saturday, December 20, 2025. Its guide describes the game as a daily sports word puzzle in which players sort 16 words into four groups of four, and says the game resets at 12 a.m. EST. Parade also names The New York Times and The Athletic as partners for the Sports Edition. The guide does not establish current subscription access or other terms.
The categories and answers here are Parade’s reported solutions; they have not been independently confirmed against an official NYT puzzle archive.
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