NFL Connections unlimited

The daily puzzle is one a day. Here you get a new set of 16 players every round, with the same rules and the same checks.

Unlimited puzzle

Pick four players that share something, then submit.

How to play NFL Connections

  1. Tap four players you think share something, then press Submit.
  2. If all four belong together, the group locks in with its colour and its link. Yellow is the most direct, then green, blue and purple, the trickiest.
  3. A wrong four costs a mistake; you have 4. "One away" means three of your four belong to the same group.
  4. Every player fits exactly one group. Some will look like they fit two: that is the trap, so check the other groups before you submit.
  5. A new puzzle comes out every day at midnight UTC. Share your result as coloured squares, without spoilers.

What can link four players

Every link is a fact from the public roster files, never an opinion or a stat leader board:

  • A team: all four were on that franchise's roster in at least one season (old names count, so Oakland seasons are Raiders seasons).
  • Two teams: all four played for both.
  • A position: quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, kickers, defensive linemen, linebackers or defensive backs (the position he was listed at most often).
  • A college, a draft year, the team that drafted him, or No. 1 overall picks.
  • The decade of his first NFL season, five or more teams, or one team for 10+ seasons and never another.
  • A first name (only exact matches: a Michael never sits beside a "Mike" group).

Where the facts come from

Teams and seasons come from the nflverse roster files (1960 to today, CC BY 4.0); a player counts for a team when he was on its roster in a season (from 2002: at least one regular-season or playoff week as active, injured reserve or inactive). Positions, colleges and draft rows come from the same nflverse data. Before a puzzle is published, a script checks all 64 player-and-group pairs: each player must fit his own group and provably not fit the other three. If the data cannot rule a link out, that player is not used.

NFL Connections unlimited: questions

How does NFL Connections work?

You see 16 NFL players. Pick four that share something and submit. A right group locks in with its colour; a wrong one costs one of your four mistakes. Find all four groups to win.

What do the colours mean?

They rank the groups from the most direct to the trickiest: yellow, green, blue, then purple. A purple group is often a draft class, a first name or two teams at once.

Can a player fit two groups?

No. Before a puzzle is used, every player is checked against all four groups in the roster data: he must fit his own and provably not fit the other three. If the data cannot rule a second group out, that player is not used.

When does a new puzzle come out?

Every day at midnight UTC, the same puzzle for everyone. Past puzzles and their answers stay in the archive, and unlimited mode deals a new puzzle every round.

Where do the facts come from?

From nflverse, a public dataset under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence: roster seasons from 1960 to today, listed positions, colleges and draft rows. Old team names count for today’s franchise, so Oakland Raiders seasons are Raiders seasons.

Is this the New York Times Connections game?

No. NFL Connections is AllStar Grid’s own NFL puzzle with its own design and data. It is not affiliated with The New York Times or its Connections game, or with the NFL or any team.

More games

Facts from nflverse under CC BY 4.0. Team logos are trademarks of their respective teams (logos via TheSportsDB). NFL Connections is AllStar Grid's own game: it is not affiliated with The New York Times or its Connections puzzle, nor with the NFL or any team. Credits