From Mashable · Mashable Team · · 1m 20s
Connections Sports Edition #719: volleyball was the wall
Arizona teams, Big Ten towns, and a Manning roll call stood between you and a clean board on September 12.
In brief
Arizona teams, Big Ten towns, and a Manning roll call stood between you and a clean board on September 12. The purple group was Major League Volleyball teams: Pulse, Supernovas, Valkyries, and Vibe. Originally reported by Mashable.
Volleyball fans had it easy
Today's board tilted toward one niche. If you follow pro volleyball, the hardest group was the one you spotted first.
“Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easier for people who watch volleyball.”
A sports spin on Connections
The New York Times built this edition with The Athletic, its sports arm. Same format as the original, aimed at people who know rosters and cities.
“finding the "common threads between words"”
Sixteen words, four mistakes
You group 16 words into four sets of four. Miss four times and the game ends, so shuffle the board before you guess on a hunch.
Colors tell you the order
Yellow is the gentlest group, then green, blue, and purple. Clearing the easy colors first shrinks the board and exposes the trick category.
Hints without the answers
The soft clues: Arizona sports, Midwest cities, a football dynasty, and pro volleyball. Enough to nudge you, not enough to solve it.
The full #719 solution
Arizona Pro Teams: Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Mercury, Suns. Big Ten School Locations: Champaign, Columbus, Lincoln, Piscataway. Mannings: Arch, Archie, Eli, Peyton. MLV: Pulse, Supernovas, Valkyries, Vibe.
The essence
The purple group was Major League Volleyball teams: Pulse, Supernovas, Valkyries, and Vibe.
