Connections: Sports Edition hints for Dec. 28, 2025, puzzle No. 461
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.

Need help with today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle? You’ve come to the right place.
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
A quick public service announcement before we continue: The bottom of this article includes one answer in each of the four categories. So if you want to solve the board hint-free, we recommend you play before continuing.
You can access Sunday’s game here.
Game No. 461’s difficulty: 2 out of 5

Hints
Scroll below for one answer in each of the four categories.
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Yellow: SAVE
Green: GUNNER
Blue: PRESTI
Purple: BENCH
The next puzzle will be available at midnight in your time zone. Thanks for playing — and share your scores in the comments!

Mark Cooper is the managing editor on the college sports team based in Boston. Before joining The Athletic, he worked as a features writer for theScore and as a staff writer for the Tulsa World. He graduated from Syracuse University and grew up outside Albany, N.Y. Follow Mark on Twitter @mark_cooperjr