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NYT Connections Sports Puzzle #688 — Answers & Solution
Wednesday, August 12, 2026 · Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐ Medium
🏆 NYT Connections Sports Puzzle #688 — Complete Answers
- 🟨 Yellow – Fake a Foul: ACT, DIVE, EMBELLISH, FLOP
- 🟩 Green – Mononymic Athletes: ICHIRO, LEBRON, SERENA, TIGER
- 🟦 Blue – Comes Before "Catch": BASKET, CONTESTED, FAIR, SHOESTRING
- 🟪 Purple – Pitchers Dealt Ahead of This Year's MLB Trade Deadline: EARLY, RAY, SKUBAL, WEAVER
📋 All 16 Words — Puzzle #688
✅ Full Answers — Puzzle #688
🟨 Yellow — Fake a Foul
🟩 Green — Mononymic Athletes
🟦 Blue — Comes Before "Catch"
🟪 Purple — Pitchers Dealt Ahead of This Year's MLB Trade Deadline
🔍 Detailed Breakdown
🟨 Yellow (Easiest) — Fake a Foul
The easiest category in Sports Puzzle #688 is "Fake a Foul". The four words are:
- ACT
- DIVE
- EMBELLISH
- FLOP
🟩 Green (Medium) — Mononymic Athletes
The medium category in Sports Puzzle #688 is "Mononymic Athletes". The four words are:
- ICHIRO
- LEBRON
- SERENA
- TIGER
🟦 Blue (Hard) — Comes Before "Catch"
The hard category in Sports Puzzle #688 is "Comes Before "Catch"". The four words are:
- BASKET
- CONTESTED
- FAIR
- SHOESTRING
🟪 Purple (Hardest) — Pitchers Dealt Ahead of This Year's MLB Trade Deadline
The hardest category in Sports Puzzle #688 is "Pitchers Dealt Ahead of This Year's MLB Trade Deadline". The four words are:
- EARLY
- RAY
- SKUBAL
- WEAVER
🎯 Strategy Tips for Puzzle #688
Clear the flop-and-dive synonyms first — Yellow falls fast. Green is pure pop culture, so grab it second. For Blue, test "___ catch" against every word on the board; BASKET and SHOESTRING will click for baseball fans. Purple is the decider and rewards deadline headlines: Skubal-to-Dodgers was the deal of the season [[1]], with Ray, Weaver, and Early also on the move [[22]]. If you don't follow MLB, use elimination — once the other three groups are locked, the four pitchers reveal themselves.
⚠️ Red Herring Warning: TIGER is the biggest trap on the board — it screams "Detroit Tigers" and baseball, but it belongs to the golf legend in the mononym group. EARLY reads like an adverb describing *when* a trade happened, but it's actually rookie lefty Connelly Early. RAY and WEAVER sound like ordinary surnames (or a beam of light and a fabric), yet both are traded pitchers. And don't pull FAIR into the Yellow group as "fair play" — it only works before "catch."
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