The answers to NYT Connections Sports Edition #669 for July 24, 2026 are listed by color group below. Hints are first for solvers who want to work through the grid before the full reveal.
Hints for Connections Sports Edition #669
Yellow: Four common athletic verbs that all describe the act of leaving the ground.
Green: Four universities located in a single US state that consistently produce college sports programs at the Division I level.
Blue: Four franchises from different major leagues that all began play during the same decade.
Purple: Four team names from a relatively recent professional league focused on a single sport played primarily by women.
All Four Answers for July 24, 2026
Yellow – Ways to Jump: BOUND, HOP, LEAP, SPRING
Green – North Carolina Schools: APPALACHIAN STATE, DUKE, HIGH POINT, WAKE FOREST
Blue – 1990s Expansion Teams: ROCKIES, SHARKS, GRIZZLIES, JAGUARS
Purple – Athletes Unlimited Softball League Teams: BANDITS, BLAZE, CASCADE, TALONS
Difficulty Notes and Notable Traps
The Yellow category is the cleanest entry point. BOUND, HOP, LEAP, and SPRING are all common verbs for jumping – four ways to describe the same basic athletic motion. SPRING carries seasonal and mechanical meanings that have nothing to do with jumping, but in a sports context it resolves quickly once the other three are confirmed.
The Green group rewards solvers with ACC geography. Duke and Wake Forest are well-known ACC programs; Appalachian State competes in the Sun Belt Conference; High Point University is a Division I program in the Big South. All four share a North Carolina address. Solvers without college sports geography knowledge may struggle with Appalachian State and High Point before the state connection becomes visible.
The Blue group is today’s main knowledge challenge. The Colorado Rockies (MLB, 1993), San Jose Sharks (NHL, 1991), Vancouver Grizzlies (NBA, 1995), and Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL, 1995) all entered their leagues as expansion franchises during the 1990s. The trap is JAGUARS, which visually groups with SHARKS and GRIZZLIES as animal-themed names – solvers who read those three as a thematic cluster may miss ROCKIES as the fourth before burning a guess.
The Purple category is the hardest by design. The Bandits, Blaze, Cascade, and Talons are all franchises in Athletes Unlimited Softball, a league that launched in 2020 and operates without fixed city affiliations. TALONS is today’s primary trap: it reads as a natural extension of the Blue group’s animal-themed expansion teams before the softball connection surfaces. Solvers who don’t follow the AU circuit are likely to guess their way through this one.
For yesterday’s puzzle, see the NYT Connections Sports Edition answers for July 23, 2026 (#668). For the regular Connections puzzle, the NYT Connections answers for July 22, 2026 (#1137) are also available.
