NYT Connections Soccer Edition Puzzle #40 — Answers for July 20, 2026
🔥 View Today's Hints & Progressive Clues →✅ Full Answers
🟨 EQUIPMENT / ELEMENTS USED IN FOOTBALL TRAINING
BALLS
BIBS
CONES
DRILLS
🟩 FAMOUS NICKNAMES OF FOOTBALLERS
DER KAISER
GAZZA
GOLDEN BALLS
THE DIVINE PONYTAIL
🟦 FAMOUS FOOTBALL RIVALRIES / DERBIES
DERBY DELLA CAPITALE
EL CLÁSICO
OLD FIRM
SUPERCLÁSICO
🟪 ARGENTINE FOOTBALL CLUBS
BOCA JUNIORS
NEWELL'S OLD BOYS
RIVER PLATE
ROSARIO CENTRAL
🎯 Strategy Tips
Start with Yellow (training equipment) — it's the least ambiguous. Then separate the four Argentine clubs (Purple) from the named rivalries (Blue): if it's the name of a match, it's Blue; if it's the name of a team, it's Purple. Save Green nicknames for cross-checking once the clubs are placed.
⚠️ Red Herring Warning: GOLDEN BALLS (Beckham) can be miscategorized with the Yellow "BALLS" training group. RIVER PLATE and BOCA JUNIORS tempt solvers toward the Blue derbies group because of the Superclásico, but they belong in the Argentine Clubs group. NEWELL'S OLD BOYS and ROSARIO CENTRAL contest the Rosario derby, another rivalry lure — but they're clubs here, not the derby name.