May 4. Puzzle #588.
Most people just want the regular puzzle done with. You can grab hints for those here if you’re stuck. But today? Today we are looking at the Sports Edition.
It hurts.
This one demands a weird spread of trivia. If your brain feels fried but you refuse to quit, keep reading. There are answers waiting at the bottom. But I would warn you against cheating unless you absolutely must.
The Athletic makes these puzzles. They’re owned by The New York Times. You won’t find it in the standard NYT Games app though. You need the Athletic app, or just play online for free.
Hints: Read These First
The hints go from easiest (yellow) to the purple stuff that usually requires a PhD in sports history.
Yellow group: Where the game is played.
Green group: The Big Smoke.
Blue group: You better hold the stick right.
Purple group: Look at a coach’s resume.
Hope you’re skilled with a stick.
The Answers: Spoilers Below
Don’t say you weren’t warned.
Yellow group: Fields of play. Familiar ones.
Green group: Pro teams based in Toronto.
Blue group: Billiards lingo.
Purple group: Teams coached by John Calipari at some point.
Here is exactly what those mean.
Yellow
It’s about the surface you stand on.
1. Diamond
2. Gridiron
3. Hardwood
4. Rink
Simple enough. Unless you overthink “hardwood.”
Green
Toronto pro sports.
1. Blue Jays
2. Maple Leafs
3. Raptors
4. Tempo
Blue
Pool terms.
1. Break
2. English
3. Rack
4. Scratch
“English” throws people off. It’s not a language. It’s side spin on the cue ball.
Purple
John Calipari has a long track record. This is where the pain sets in.
1. Minutemen (UCLA)
2. Nets (Yes, the NBA team)
3. Razorbacks (Arkansas)
4. Wildcats (Kentucky)
Calipari coaches everywhere. You just have to know his history.
Why You Are Getting Fooled
It’s not just luck. It’s design.
Here are three quick ways to stop missing easy words.
- Stop grabbing the obvious group first. Every word has two lives. Is that a football term? Is it a scoring word? Check both angles before committing.
- Look for double meanings. The puzzle loves hiding names in plain sight. That college mascot might just be a noun you know.
- Remember the reverse too. A word like “HURTS” looks like a verb. But it is also the last name of a pro athlete. The trap is real.
So what do we do now?
Do you solve it? Do you blame the Calipari connection for being obscure?
Weird puzzle today. The hardest part was remembering who played for Calipari when he was coaching in Utah.
Who remembers UCLA anyway?
Is this a word or a name? That is the question.
