March 23, 2026 NYT Connections Sports Edition #546 Hints and Answers

Puzzle #546 of New York Times word games Connections: Sports Edition is live for March 23, 2026, and today’s board leans heavily on football formations and NBA star power. If you’re stuck on one of the four groups — or just want confirmation before you submit — this guide has tiered hints, category names, and the full answer set.

What Is NYT Connections Sports Edition?

Connections: Sports Edition is the sports-focused variant of the NYT’s popular daily grouping game, developed in collaboration with The Athletic. Each puzzle presents 16 words on a board, and your task is to sort them into four groups of four — each group sharing a specific sports-related connection.

The groups are 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, and you can shuffle the board at any point to spot patterns more easily. Completed groups are removed from the board, and you can share your result grid on social media — no spoilers included.

How to Play

Select four words you believe share a common sports thread and hit Submit.
A correct guess clears that group from the board; a wrong guess costs you one of your four allowed mistakes.
Shuffle the board whenever the layout feels overwhelming — a fresh arrangement often reveals hidden groupings.
Tackle the easiest color (yellow) first to reduce the board and gain momentum for trickier groups.

Category Hints for March 23, 2026 — No Answers Yet

Don’t want the full reveal just yet? Here are vague clues for each color group:

🟨 Yellow: Think about what happens when a game can’t end with a tie — what extra period or method breaks the deadlock?

🟩 Green: These are positional arrangements an offense lines up in before the snap. Classic football terminology.

🟦 Blue: A bird associated with the color red — and multiple sports teams across different leagues share this name.

🟪 Purple: An elite NBA guard currently making MVP-level noise. These four words are all closely tied to his identity and career.

Category Names for March 23, 2026

Need the category titles but still want to figure out the words yourself? Here they are:

🟨 USED TO BREAK A TIE

🟩 OFFENSIVE FORMATIONS IN FOOTBALL

🟦 CARDINALS

🟪 ASSOCIATED WITH SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER

Full Answers for Connections Sports Edition #546 — March 23, 2026

Here are the complete solutions for every group:

🟨 USED TO BREAK A TIE — EXTRA END, EXTRA INNINGS, OVERTIME, SHOOTOUT

🟩 OFFENSIVE FORMATIONS IN FOOTBALL — I, SHOTGUN, WILDCAT, WISHBONE

🟦 CARDINALS — ARIZONA, BALL STATE, LOUISVILLE, ST. LOUIS

🟪 ASSOCIATED WITH SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER — 2, KENTUCKY, MVP, THUNDER

What Made Today Tricky

A few things could have tripped up experienced players today.

OVERTIME and SHOOTOUT are the easy catches in the tiebreaker group, but EXTRA END (the curling term for an additional end played when teams are tied) and EXTRA INNINGS (baseball’s extra frames) are more sport-specific — and both contain the word “extra,” which might make them feel like a sub-category rather than a grouping alongside OVERTIME and SHOOTOUT.

WILDCAT and SHOTGUN are well-known football formations, but the single letter I (the I-formation) could easily be dismissed as a stray tile, and WISHBONE is a vintage college football staple that casual fans may not recall. This group rewards players with football IQ.

CARDINALS was deceptive because the four answers span college football (BALL STATE), the NFL (ARIZONA), MLB (ST. LOUIS), and college basketball (LOUISVILLE). Without knowing all four franchises/programs share the Cardinals nickname, it’s easy to think LOUISVILLE belongs in a different group.

The SGA group (THUNDER, KENTUCKY, MVP, 2) required specific knowledge of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: his OKC Thunder home, his college program at Kentucky, his current MVP candidacy, and his jersey number 2. The number 2 alone on a board of sports words could send you down several wrong paths.

Tips for Today’s Puzzle

Start with USED TO BREAK A TIE. OVERTIME and SHOOTOUT are immediate gets; then recognize EXTRA INNINGS (baseball) and EXTRA END (curling) as the remaining two.
Don’t ignore single-letter tiles. The I in today’s puzzle is the I-formation in football — pair it with SHOTGUN, WILDCAT, and WISHBONE.
Think mascots, not just team names. CARDINALS is a shared nickname across ARIZONA, BALL STATE, LOUISVILLE, and ST. LOUIS — span NFL, MLB, and college sports.
Use jersey number and alma mater as anchors. If you know SGA wears #2, plays for the THUNDER, went to KENTUCKY, and is an MVP candidate, the purple group falls into place immediately.

More Daily Puzzle Help

Looking for answers to other puzzles today or from recent days? Check these out:

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.