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CONNECTIONS

Group 16 soccer players into 4 secret categories. Can you crack the connection?

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Sports Connections Game | DoUKnowBall

Find the four groups of connected sports players. Each group shares something in common: a team, award, position or era.

Sixteen players, four secret groups, and a board built to trick you. Sort all 16 names into their hidden categories of four before your lives run out.

The connections range from friendly, like a shared club, to evil, like a common shirt number or award. Each solved group shows a difficulty color, and purple is usually the trap.

How to play Connections

  • Tap four players you think belong together and hit Submit.
  • Correct sets lock in with their category name and color.
  • Wrong sets cost one of your 4 lives. If 3 of the 4 were right, the game says you were one away.
  • Spend a hint to reveal the category name of the easiest unsolved group.
  • Find all four groups before the lives run out.

    • Rules to know

  • Always 16 players forming exactly 4 groups of 4.
  • You have 4 lives, and every wrong submission costs one.
  • Up to 4 hints, and they reveal category names only, never players.
  • Colors mark difficulty: green easy, yellow medium, blue hard, purple insane.

    • Example walkthrough

    You spot Kaka, Maldini, Van Basten, and Gullit and submit them as AC Milan players. Locked, green. Then four Ballon d'Or winners come back one away: someone belongs to a sneakier group.

    Swap one name for Modric and it locks. The last eight should sort themselves, but you triple check anyway, because winning with all 4 lives intact is the real flex.

    Strategy tips

  • Never submit your first idea. Hunt the trap player who fits two categories.
  • Lock your surest group first. Every solve shrinks the board.
  • One away means change exactly one player, not two.
  • Save hints for the last two groups, where the categories get strange.

    • Connections FAQ

    Is there a new puzzle every day?

    Yes, the shared daily changes at midnight Eastern Time, and unlimited mode serves more puzzles from the full pool whenever you want.

    Do hints cost a life?

    No, hints and lives are separate budgets of 4 each. A hint names a category; finding its four players is still on you.

    How does the streak work?

    Each solve adds 1, any loss resets it to zero, and it is stored in your browser between visits.

    Is Connections free to play?

    Yes. Connections is free to play on DoUKnowBall, right in your browser. No download and no signup needed.

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