NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle #479 is for Thursday, January 15, 2026. Start with the spoiler-light clues below, then open the category names and full answer groups only if you need them.
Hints for Connections: Sports Edition #479
Try grouping the 16 words by shared meaning or association. The NYT game’s instructions ask players to “group sports terms that share a common thread.”
- Yellow: NO
- Green: Italian
- Blue: Scrap
- Purple: Sounds like a Yankee
Category names
- Yellow: Reject a shot
- Green: Serie A teams
- Blue: Benches-clearing brawl
- Purple: Yankees greats, with the first letter changed
Connections #479 answers
Reject a shot
BLOCK, DENY, STUFF, SWAT
Serie A teams
BOLOGNA, COMO, JUVENTUS, ROMA
Benches-clearing brawl
BROUHAHA, FIGHT, FRACAS, RHUBARB
Yankees greats, with the first letter changed
FUDGE, METER, TERRA, WORD
The purple answers change the first letter of famous Yankees surnames: FUDGE points to Judge, METER to Jeter, TERRA to Berra, and WORD to Ford.
How to approach the puzzle
The green group consists of four Serie A football clubs. The blue group uses words for a fight or brawl; “rhubarb” is the less obvious fit. For purple, look for altered spellings that become surnames when you change the first letter. The puzzle format presents 16 words to sort into four groups, and Connections: Sports Edition is a New York Times and The Athletic collaboration. The game can be played in a web browser or on mobile devices.
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