Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 17, No. 512

The New York Times Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for February 17 featured four distinct thematic groups, challenging players to identify connections among seemingly unrelated words. The puzzle’s categories included summer Olympic sports, Washington D.C. schools, individuals named Paul, and a bowling-related league theme. The answers for each group were fencing, golf, judo, and rugby for the Olympic sports; American, George Washington, Georgetown, and Howard for the D.C. schools; Coffey, George, Molitor, and Skenes for the Pauls; and cactus, G, grapefruit, and little for the league category. This edition of the puzzle, which is available through The Athletic’s app and online for free, does not appear in the NYT Games app. The puzzle’s design offers a mix of straightforward and more challenging categories, with hints provided to assist solvers. The yellow group, representing summer Olympic sports, was considered the easiest, while the purple group, linked to a bowling league, posed a tougher challenge due to its less obvious connections. The puzzle’s creator, Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, is a seasoned journalist and pop-culture expert with a long career spanning various media outlets. She is known for her expertise in entertainment and lifestyle topics, as well as her work on generational studies and cultural history. Her involvement adds a layer of cultural insight and playfulness to the puzzle’s construction. The Connections: Sports Edition puzzle continues to engage sports enthusiasts and puzzle solvers alike by combining sports knowledge with word association challenges. Its presence on a subscription-based sports journalism platform highlights the growing trend of integrating interactive content into specialized media outlets, offering fans a unique way to connect with sports culture beyond traditional reporting.