Are you a sports fanatic who loves to see how things connect on the field and beyond? Let’s dive into the world of the NYT’s much-anticipated Connections Sports Edition game! Just like its popular sibling, NYT Connections, this game challenges you to categorize four similar sports-related words into a cohesive group. It’s a thrilling test of your athletic vocabulary and your ability to spot subtle links between terms. So, without any further ado, here are the answers and hints for today’s NYT Connections Sports Edition #253 for June 3, 2025.

Today’s NYT Connections Sports Edition #253 Hints for June 3, 2025
Click here to reveal all the hints to get you started with today’s NYT Connections Sports Edition:
- Yellow category hint: adjectives for being astute or shrewd
- Green category hint: words meaning to exchange
- Blue category hint: last names of famous athletes
- Purple category hint: Women’s National Basketball Association players
Did you guess all the words? Let’s take a look at them below.
Today’s NYT Connections Sports Edition #253 Answer for June 3, 2025
Click here to reveal the solution to resolve today’s NYT Connections Sports Edition:
- Yellow Category: Canny, Clever, Crafty, Savvy (Shrewd)
- Green Category: Deal, Swap, Trade, Transfer (Transaction)
- Blue Category: Allen, Rashford, Smart, Stroman (Famous Athletes Named Marcus)
- Purple Category: Bueckers, Citron, Iriafen, Rivers (WNBA Rookies)
What do you think of today’s NYT Connections Sports Edition puzzle?
How to Play NYT Connections Sports Edition
Playing the NYT Connections Sports Edition is straightforward. You’d need to group four similar sports-related words into a single category. The difficulty would increase with each category, with yellow being the easiest and purple being the hardest. Green would represent moderate difficulty, while blue would be complex, one notch above green.
Each puzzle would feature 16 words, with a hidden theme for each of the four groups. You would get four chances to correctly guess every group, meaning you could have up to four incorrect guesses before the game ends. If you guess correctly, you move on to the next group; otherwise, you remain stuck with the current one.
Just like in the regular Connections game, you also get a shuffle button to change the position of the words. The only visual difference is that in the Sports Edition, the words are displayed inside circular icons, whereas in the normal Connections game, they are in square icons.
Similar to Wordle and the regular Connections, the Connections Sports Edition would refresh every 24 hours, so you’d need to wait until the next day for a fresh challenge. Also, an incorrect guess would reveal the correct results, preventing you from replaying the same puzzle.
While playing the game itself might not require an NYT connection, creating one would likely allow you to track your progress and stats. You could also easily share your results by copying them to your clipboard and pasting them wherever you like.