April 7, 2026 NYT Connections Sports Edition #561 Hints and Answers

Today’s New York Times Connections Sports Edition #561 leans heavily into golf and Canadian hockey knowledge — two areas that can trip up even confident sports fans. Whether you’re here for a gentle nudge or the full solution, this guide walks you through everything in the right order: hints first, answers last.

What Is NYT Connections: Sports Edition?

NYT Connections: Sports Edition is a daily word puzzle developed in partnership with The Athletic, the NYT’s dedicated sports coverage arm. It follows the same format as the original Connections game — players must sort 16 words into four groups of four, each sharing a common sports-themed thread.

Each group is color-coded by difficulty: 🟨 Yellow is the easiest, 🟩 Green is moderate, 🟦 Blue is harder, and 🟪 Purple is the most challenging. You get up to four mistakes before the game ends, so it pays to be deliberate. Correct groups are removed from the board; wrong guesses count against you.

The game resets every day at midnight, and results can be shared on social media just like Wordle.

How to Play

Group 16 words into four sets of four based on a shared sports theme
Start with the category you feel most confident about
Use the shuffle button to spot hidden connections more easily
You have a maximum of four wrong guesses — use them wisely

🟨🟩🟦🟪 Category Hints — No Answers Yet

Not ready for the full reveal? Here are vague clues to point you in the right direction without spoiling anything:

🟨 Yellow: Think about how a golfer scores relative to par on a given hole
🟩 Green: These NHL franchises all call the same country home — the birthplace of hockey
🟦 Blue: All four team names reference something you’d check in a weather forecast
🟪 Purple: At certain MLB stadiums, non-athletes compete in a very food-forward race

Category Names — Getting Warmer

If you need one more layer of help before the full spoiler, here are today’s four category names:

🟨 GOLF SCORING TERMS
🟩 CANADIAN NHL TEAMS
🟦 WEATHER-THEMED TEAMS
🟪 THINGS THAT RACE AT MLB GAMES

Full Answers for April 7, 2026 — Connections Sports Edition #561

Here are all four complete solutions:

🟨 GOLF SCORING TERMS — BIRDIE, BOGEY, EAGLE, PAR
🟩 CANADIAN NHL TEAMS — CANADIENS, CANUCKS, OILERS, SENATORS
🟦 WEATHER-THEMED TEAMS — HURRICANES, LIGHTNING, STORM, THUNDER
🟪 THINGS THAT RACE AT MLB GAMES — PIEROGIS, PRESIDENTS, SAUSAGES, THE FREEZE

What Made Today’s Puzzle Tricky

Puzzle #561 had a few genuine misdirection traps worth calling out.

The 🟨 Yellow category looks simple on the surface — golf scoring terms — but EAGLE is easy to misread as a sports mascot (Philadelphia Eagles, anyone?). PAR could theoretically fit a “standard” or “average” category if one existed. These words feel at home in multiple sports contexts, which is exactly the kind of trap the puzzle setters love.

The 🟪 Purple category was the real wildcard. THE FREEZE is a well-known between-innings racing character at Atlanta Braves games, but unless you follow MLB promotions closely, the connection to PIEROGIS (Pittsburgh Pirates) and PRESIDENTS (Washington Nationals) isn’t obvious. SAUSAGES from the Milwaukee Brewers’ famous Sausage Race rounds out this delightfully chaotic group.

For the 🟩 Green category, knowing that Canada has seven NHL franchises helps — but without that context, OILERS might read as an oil-industry reference, and SENATORS might trigger political associations before hockey ones.

Tips for Today’s Puzzle

Lock in Golf Scoring first. BIRDIE, BOGEY, EAGLE, and PAR are clean golf terms — none of them double as mascot names in any other active category.
The Canadian NHL category is your safety net. If you know your hockey geography, CANADIENS, CANUCKS, OILERS, and SENATORS should fall into place quickly and clear the board.
Weather teams cross multiple sports. HURRICANES (NHL), LIGHTNING (NHL), STORM (WNBA), and THUNDER (NBA) are all real teams — don’t assume they’re all from the same league. The category is about the name theme, not the sport.
For Purple, think MLB entertainment, not competition. The PIEROGIS, PRESIDENTS, SAUSAGES, and THE FREEZE are all racing mascots or characters used in between-inning promotions at specific ballparks.

More Daily Puzzle Help

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Shahid Maqsood

Shahid Maqsood is a digital entrepreneur and SEO specialist focused on building engaging web experiences. He is the creator of DotWordle, combining creativity with smart, user-friendly design.