Puzzle 642 (June 27, 2026) from Connections: Sports Edition delivers the usual four-category grind—this time with clear answers across yellow, green, blue, and purple categories, plus a reminder to play before looking.
For anyone who likes their sports trivia with a side of puzzle pressure, today’s Connections: Sports Edition board is waiting—but the page doesn’t stay secret for long.
The bottom of the article includes the answers and hints for the four categories, which means the safest path is the one many solvers already take: play first, scroll later. If you do want the game, there’s a link to access today’s puzzle, Game No. 642, with difficulty set at 2.5 out of 5.
The four categories start to take shape through the color reveals. Yellow lands on LEGEND, with the set pointing to GREAT, ICON, LEGEND, and SUPERSTAR. Green follows with the Last four NBA champions: BOSTON, DENVER, NEW YORK, and OKLAHOMA CITY. Blue turns to the WNBA players in the Basketball Hall of Fame: CASH, CATCHINGS, LESLIE, and WHALEN.
Then comes the purple group, which narrows the field to starts with an NFL starting QB: JACKSONVILLE, MAYER, WILLIAMSPORT, and YOUNGSTERS.
If you’re new to this daily format. Connections: Sports Edition is The Athletic’s first-ever game: a daily puzzle built around connections between 16 words on the board. The goal is simple to describe and harder to execute—group words or objects into four categories of four. while making exactly zero mistakes. There’s only one solution, and the game can be tricky because items may look like they fit multiple categories.
Each category is assigned a color as you solve. stretching from straightforward (yellow) to medium (green). challenging (blue). and tricky (purple). The puzzle is designed by Mark Cooper. who creates Connections: Sports Edition and works as a managing editor for college sports here at The Athletic. He previously served as The Athletic’s managing editor for breaking news.
If you want to keep the streak going, the next puzzle will be available at midnight in your time zone. For now, today’s Game No. 642 is clearly marked—and the categories are already sitting in plain sight for anyone who just wants to skip straight to the final answers.
Connections Sports Edition puzzle 642 June 27 2026 Mark Cooper LEGEND category Denver Celtics New York Oklahoma City champions WNBA Basketball Hall of Fame CASH CATCHINGS LESLIE WHALEN JACKSONVILLE MAYER WILLIAMSPORT YOUNGSTERS