This summary covers recent NYT Connections puzzles for February 13 and 14, 2026, along with highlights from sports news. The February 13 puzzle, titled 'Connections: Sports Edition,' involved identifying four groups of four words based on common themes, such as poker hands ('Full House,' 'Pair,' 'Royal Flush,' 'Straight'), tennis movies ('Battle of the Sexes,' 'Challengers,' 'King Richard,' 'Wimbledon'), Walter Payton's nickname ('34,' 'Bears,' 'Jackson State,' 'Sweetness'), and teams in world capitals ('Commanders,' 'Crystal Palace,' 'Real Madrid,' 'Senators'). The difficulty level was rated 3.5 out of 5. The clues and answers were shared publicly, with hints provided for each category. The February 14 puzzle, numbered #979, included categories with themes like 'Uptick' ('Hike,' 'Jump,' 'Rise,' 'Spike'), 'Protuberance' ('Bump,' 'Hump,' 'Lump,' 'Mound'), 'Tom Hanks roles' ('Gump,' 'Phillips,' 'Sully,' 'Woody'), and 'Words before \