A Trivial Pursuit #18 (Sports and Leisure 3/4): Connected

Question

_{This is part 18 of A Trivial Pursuit, a 25-part puzzle hunt. Each part is solvable on its own, with the exception of the meta-puzzle at the end.}

---

Sometimes one connect-wall puzzle just isn't enough... so I hereby present PSE's first (and probably last) connecting wall of connecting walls!

Below are 16 different connecting walls, each of which can be resolved into 4 connected groups of 4 items. Crucially, in each case at least one group is related to sports or board/card games. For each wall, there is a hidden word (not included in the list) that can fit into all 4 groups. Together, these 16 hidden words themselves form a final 4x4 connecting meta-wall whose one-word category descriptions can themselves be linked to a final hidden word - this is the final answer for the whole puzzle.

Note that due to the sheer size of this puzzle, I have ensured that the walls are generally not as 'devious' or 'tricksy' as the typical connecting wall presented by itself; however, they should still present a challenge (and hopefully an enjoyable one at that). I am fully expecting this puzzle to be solved through collaboration - partial answers are welcome as long as they comprise fully completed connecting walls, with justification (please no partial groups or incompletely solved walls).

Can you find the hidden word? Ready? Steady? Go!

Hint for the meta-wall:

There is a sporting connection in this wall too, involving four sportsmen who share a first name. All are known for different sports. Two are British, two are Australian.

Wall 01:

APPLE	BOFF	BOPPER	CHIN
DEADWOOD	GUNSLINGER	HOMESTEADERS	PHIL
POW	REVOLVER	SHORT	SING
SLEEP	SOCK	THWACK	UNIT

Wall 02:

BALL	BANKS	BILBAO	BURNLEY
CLUB	COMPOUND	DOVER	HUNT
MOORE	OLDHAM	SEARCHLIGHT	SILVERSTONE
SINGER	TORCHBEARER	TROUNCE	WHOLEGRAIN

Wall 03:

AWL	BACK	DEAL	FINAL
JACK	JANE	JOY	JUNK
LURK	MARK	MASTER	NOTE
NOVA	STARK	SUIT	TRICK

Wall 04:

APHID	BRAEBURN	BREAK	CAMEO
CANDLE	CATHOLIC	EARHOLE	ENCOUNTER
FUJI	GALA	HOLIDAY	KEMP
SMUG	SOUTH	THIS PLANET	TIBETANS

Wall 05:

DAMN	EXTRA	FIG	FINGER
HALF	HOB	HOOT	INJURY
JIMMY	JINX	MINGLE	OVER
RUSTY	SUITE	TANGY	TOSS

Wall 06:

BATTLESHIP	CHARM	CROWN	CYCLOPS
FALCON	GULLIBLE	HOT SPOT	HULK
NEBULA	NUCLEAR	PAPERCLIP	SNICKO
TERNARY	TITLE	VAR	VISION

Wall 07:

BUNKED	CLASP	FOLD	GREEK
JOIN	MARTIN	OUTRAGED	PREMATURE
PROUD	ROUGE	SHAKE	STINGRAY
STRIPE	TEN	WARMING	WIFE

Wall 08:

ALERT	BRA	CARD	COUCH
DEVILS	GO	INGLES	JACKET
LICE	MASH	NEW	PIN
RUM	SWEET	TAN	YANK

Wall 09:

CIAO	FRAU	HOO	HULL
HUNT	LAWSON	MAJOR	MCDAVID
MOORE	ORR	OSBORNE	PLOUGH
WATT	WEAR	WOW	Y

Wall 10:

BALDING	BARKER	BREA	CORNERSHOP
CYPRESS	KILMARNOCK	LARGS	LOGAN
MONTROSE	ORANGE	PRIVY	SALTCOATS
SCOTT	SICILIANA	TROON	WESTMINSTER

Wall 11:

BOOK	BOSNICH	BOWLBY	DIEHL
FEDERICI	FILAN	FUNNINESS	KIMBLE
MCAVOY	NETWORK	RYAN	SCHWARZER
SOLO	STENT	WEIGHTED	WHITFIELD

Wall 12:

ACTIVE	CURE	DRY	DUMMY
FIT	GUN	HAMMER	HIGH
HOME	LIFE	PLEASURE	POLE
RAT	SHOT	SPEED	VINCE

Wall 13:

ALASKA	BOSTON	CENTRAL	DIRT
EASTERN	EXERCISE	GHOST	KANSAS
KISS	PACIFIC	POPEYE	PUSH
RAINBOW	RICEPAPER	SAKAGUCHI	SHAWL

Wall 14:

BIRD	COACH	COSTCO	COTTAGE
COUNTER	DOCTOR	GENERAL	HUNGER
JIFFY	MINUTE	MOMENT	PROMOTER
REFEREE	SHAKE	SINCERE	TANGERINE

Wall 15:

AIR	CHAMPION	FIELDS	FLINT
FURY	GEORGE	GOLD	HERCULES
HOOK	KENNEDY	O’BRIEN	PODOLOFF
SHAKESPEARE	SPARROW	STERN	TORNADO

Wall 16:

BICYCLE	BIND	CORNER	FENCE
FIX	FREE	GOAL	JAM
OPTS	PICKLE	POST	ROPES
RUN	STOP	TAKE	TOPS

Answer 1

Wall 02:

"Athletic ...": Bilbao, Dover, Club, Oldham
ends in an imperial unit of weight: com·pound, tr·ounce, whole·grain, silver·stone
starts with destruction by fire: Burn·ley, sear·chlight, singe·r, torch·bearer
England players in the 1966 World Cup final: Ball, Banks, Hunt, Moore

Linking word: CHARLTON

Wall 06:

starts with a bird: crow·n, gull·ible, tern·ary, tit·le
referee assistance technology:
  Cyclops (tennis), Hot Spot (cricket), Snicko (snickometer, cricket), VAR (football)
ends in a three-letter body part: battles·hip, ch·arm, nucl·ear, paperc·lip
Marvel Universe superheroes: Falcon, Hulk, Nebula, Vision

Linking word: HAWKEYE

Wall 07:

"house ...": martin, proud, warming, wife
"... hands": clasp, fold, join, shake
parts of a golf course with their last letter changed: bunked/r, Greek/n, rouge/h, ten/e
ends in a synonym of old: outr·aged, pre·mature, stin·gray, st·ripe

Linking word: HOLD

Wall 08:

"Red ...": alert, card, devils, rum
Prepending an S makes a tennis term: (s)ingles, (s)lice, (s)mash, (s)pin
"... potato": couch, jacket, new, sweet
Letters of the Nato alphabet two letters short: Bra(vo), Go(lf), Tan(go), Yank(ee)

Linking word: HOT

Wall 11:

Australian GKs: Bosnich, Federici, Filan, *Schwarzer
contains a number: fun·nine·ss, ne·two·rk, s·ten·t, w·eight·ed
Months as first names: April Bowlby, August Diehl, May McAvoy, June Whitfield
Harrison Ford characters: Book, Kimble, Ryan, Solo

Linking word: JONES (Brad, Indiana and January)

Finally, an observation:

The walls seem to be sorted alphabetically by their linking word.

Answer 2

Ok, let's get this started with wall 09:

UK Chancellors of the Exchequer:
Jeremy HUNT
Nigel LAWSON
John MAJOR
George OSBORNE

Ice hockey players (not sure if there's something more specific about these, knowing nothing about the sport):
Connor MCDAVID
Bobby ORR
Bobby HULL
Dickie MOORE

Words that rhyme:
CIAO
FRAU
PLOUGH
WOW

Homophones of question words:
HOO (Who?)
WATT (What?)
WEAR (Where?)
Y (Why?)

And the linking word is HOWE (Geoffrey Howe for the chancellor and Gordie Howe for the ice hockey player).

Wall 14:

Words for a short period of time:
JIFFY
MINUTE
MOMENT
SHAKE

Words that start with a trigonometric function:
COSTCO
COTTAGE
SINCERE
TANGERINE

Words that can be followed by strike:
BIRD
COUNTER
GENERAL
HUNGER

Staff at a boxing match:
COACH
DOCTOR
PROMOTER
REFEREE

And the linking word is SECOND

Wall 15:

National Basketball Association presidents:
Walter KENNEDY
Larry O’BRIEN
Maurice PODOLOFF
David STERN

Medals:
AIR
FIELDS
GEORGE
GOLD

Fictional pirate captains:
FLINT (Treasure Island)
HOOK (Peter Pan)
SPARROW (Pirates of the Carribean)
SHAKESPEARE (Stardust)

Television fictional horses:
CHAMPION (Champion the Wonder Horse)
FURY (Fury)
HERCULES (Steptoe and Son)
TORNADO (Zorro)

And the linking word is SILVER (Adam Silver for the NBA, Long John Silver for the pirates, and from the Lone Ranger for the television series).

Answer 3

Wall 01:

THE BIG: Apple, Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Short (movie), Sleep (movie)
HITTING NOISES: boff, pow, sock, thwack
PREFIX TO ASIAN COUNTRY: Chin(a), Phil(ippines), Sing(apore), Unit(ed Arab Emirates)
BOARD GAMES: Deadwood, Gunslinger, Homesteaders, Revolver (board game connection)

Linking word: BANG (Bangladesh, board game)

Wall 03:

REPLACE VOWEL TO MAKE BIRD: awl (owl), joy (jay), lurk (lark), stark (stork)
QUARTER: back, final, master, note
CARD: deal, jack, suit, trick (card game connection)
FIRST 3 LETTERS ARE MONTH: jane, junk, mark, nova

Linking word: DECK (duck)

Wall 04:

GREEK LETTER INSIDE: aphid, earhole, smug, tibetans
APPLE: Braeburn, Cameo, Fuji, Gala
ROMAN: Candle, Catholic, Holiday, Kemp
MONOPOLY SQUARES: (Jail) Break, (Chance) Encounter, (Go) South, (Just Visiting) This Planet (book, film, or album) (board game connection)

Linking word: EMPIRE (Boardwalk Empire)

Wall 12:

PRO PREFIX: active, cure, fit, vince
RUN: dry, dummy, home, rat
BOAT: gun, life, pleasure, speed
DECATHLON EVENTS: hammer (throw), high (jump), pole (vault), shot (put) (sporting connection)

Linking word: LONG (jump)

Wall 16:

KICK: bicycle, corner, free, goal (soccer sporting connection)
IN A: bind, fix, jam, pickle
ON THE: fence, ropes, run, take
ANAGRAMS: opts, post, stop, tops

Linking word: SPOT

Answer 4

This community wiki answer serves to compile all wall solutions into one complete answer, crediting those users who were first to find them...

The final answer to the puzzle (found by @DanielS) is:

STEADY

The is found by resolving the following connecting wall, which comprises the hidden words from each of the 16 individual walls:

BANG, CHARLTON, DECK, EMPIRE, HANG, HAWKEYE, HOLD, HOT, HOWE, IRVINE, JONES, LONG, MOUNTAIN, SECOND, SILVER, SPOT

Its groups are:

(Sports) Group 1 - Sportsmen named 'EDDIE': CHARLTON (cue sports), HOWE (football), IRVINE (motor racing), JONES (rugby union);
Group 2 - Words that precede 'ON': BANG on, HANG on, HOLD on, SPOT on;
Group 3 - Words that precede 'HAND': DECKhand, HOT hand, LONGhand, SECOND-hand;
Group 4 - US STATE nicknames: EMPIRE (NY), HAWKEYE (IO), MOUNTAIN (WV), SILVER (NV).

Hidden word: ON, EDDIE, HAND and STATE can all be preceded by STEADY (Steady on, "Steady Eddie", Steady hand, Steady state).

The sixteen initial walls resolve as follows:

Wall 01 (solved by @JS1)

(Games) Group 1 - Western-themed board/card games: DEADWOOD, GUNSLINGER, HOMESTEADERS, REVOLVER;
Group 2 - "The Big ...": APPLE, BOPPER, SHORT, SLEEP;
Group 3 - Batman TV series onomatopoeia: BOFF, POW, SOCK, THWACK;
Group 4 - First 4 letters of an Asian country: CHIN(a), PHIL(ippines), SING(apore), UNIT(ed Arab Emirates).

Hidden word: BANG
(A Western-themed game, The Big BANG, BANG!, BANG(ladesh))

Wall 02 (solved by @MOehm)

(Sports) Group 1 - Football clubs missing 'ATHLETIC': Athletic BILBAO, Athletic CLUB, DOVER Athletic, OLDHAM Athletic;
(Sports) Group 2 - England players in the 1966 World Cup Final: Alan BALL, Gordon BANKS, Roger HUNT, Bobby MOORE;
Group 3 - Words that end with an imperial unit of weight: COM(POUND), SILVER(STONE), TR(OUNCE), WHOLE(GRAIN);
Group 4 - Words that start with a synonym of 'damage by fire': (BURN)LEY, (SEAR)CHLIGHT, (SINGE)R, (TORCH)BEARER.

Hidden word: CHARLTON
(CHARLTON Athletic, Bobby & Jack CHARLTON, CHARL(TON), (CHAR)LTON)

Wall 03 (solved by @JS1)

(Games) Group 1 - Card game terminology: DEAL, JACK, SUIT, TRICK;
Group 2 - Replace a vowel to form the name of a bird: AWL (owl), JOY (jay), LURK (lark), STARK (stork);
Group 3 - Words that can follow 'QUARTER': quarterBACK, quarter-FINAL, quarterMASTER, quarter NOTE;
Group 4 - 3-letter month abbreviations, plus a letter: (JAN)E, (JUN)K, (MAR)K, (NOV)A.

Hidden word: DECK
(A pack of cards, one vowel away from DuCK, quarterDECK and (DEC)K)

Wall 04 (solved by @GarethMcCaughan and JS1)

(Games) Group 1 - Can follow the name of a Monopoly space: (Jail) BREAK, (Chance) ENCOUNTER, (Go) SOUTH, (Just Visiting) THIS PLANET (book / film / album);
Group 2 - Contains a letter of the Greek alphabet at its centre: A(PHI)D, EA(RHO)LE, S(MU)G, TI(BETA)NS;
Group 3 - Apple varieties: BRAEBURN, CAMEO, FUJI, GALA;
Group 4 - Words that follow 'ROMAN': Roman CANDLE, Roman CATHOLIC, Roman HOLIDAY, Roman KEMP.

Hidden word: EMPIRE
(Boardwalk EMPIRE, EM(PI)RE, EMPIRE apples, Roman EMPIRE)

Wall 05 (solved by @Alaiko)

(Sports) Group 1 - When followed by 'TIME', a sporting concept: EXTRA time, HALF time, INJURY time, OVERtime;
Group 2 - Words that start with a historical Chinese dynasty: (JIN)X, (MING)LE, (SUI)TE, (TANG)Y;
Group 3 - Words that can follow "don't give a ..." to mean that you couldn't care less: DAMN, FIG, HOOT, TOSS;
Group 4 - Words that can be followed by 'NAIL': (FINGER)nail, (HOB)nail, JIMMY nail, RUSTY nail.

Hidden word: HANG
(Hang time, Han Dynasty, "don't give a hang", hangnail)

Wall 06 (solved by @MOehm)

(Sports) Group 1 - Referee assistance technology: CYCLOPS (tennis), HOT SPOT (cricket), SNICKO (cricket), VAR (football);
Group 2 - Words that start with a bird: (CROW)N, (GULL)IBLE, (TERN)ARY, (TIT)LE;
Group 3 - Words that end with a 3-letter body part: BATTLES(HIP), CH(ARM), NUCL(EAR), PAPERC(LIP);
Group 4 - Marvel Cinematic Universe superheroes: FALCON, HULK, NEBULA, VISION.

Hidden word: HAWKEYE
(HAWK-EYE in tennis, (HAWK)EYE, HAWK(EYE), Clint Barton)

Wall 07 (solved by @MOehm)

(Sports) Group 1 - Parts of a golf course with their last letter changed: BUNKED/r, GREEK/n, ROUGE/h, TEN/e;
Group 2 - Words that can follow 'HOUSE': house MARTIN, house-PROUD, houseWARMING, houseWIFE;
Group 3 - Actions you can do to HANDS: CLASP, FOLD, JOIN, SHAKE;
Group 4 - Words that end with a synonym of 'OLD': OUTR(AGED), PRE(MATURE), STIN(GRAY), ST(RIPE).

Hidden word: HOLD
(HOLD/e, houseHOLD, HOLD hands, H(OLD))

Wall 08 (solved by @MOehm)

(Sports) Group 1 - Prepending an 'S' makes a tennis term: (s)INGLES, (s)LICE, (s)MASH, (s)PIN;
Group 2 - Words that can follow 'RED': Red ALERT, Red CARD, Red DEVILS, Red RUM;
Group 3 - Words that can precede 'POTATO': COUCH potato, JACKET potato, NEW potato, SWEET potato;
Group 4 - Codewords of the NATO phonetic alphabet two letters short: BRA(vo), GO(lf), TAN(go), YANK(ee).

Hidden word: HOT
((s)HOT, Red HOT, HOT potato, HOT(el))

Wall 09 (solved by @fljx)

(Sports) Group 1 - Multiple-time winners of the NHL's Art Ross Trophy: Bobby HULL, Connor MCDAVID, Dickie MOORE, Bobby ORR;
Group 2 - UK Chancellors of the Exchequer: Jeremy HUNT, Nigel LAWSON, John MAJOR, George OSBORNE;
Group 3 - Words that rhyme with 'OW': CIAO, FRAU, PLOUGH, WOW;
Group 4 - Homophones of question words: HOO (Who?), WATT (What?), WEAR (Where?), Y (Why?).

Hidden word: HOWE
(Gordie Howe, Geoffrey Howe, rhymes with 'OW', and sounds like 'How?')

Wall 10 (solved by @Alaiko)

(Sports) Group 1 - Female BBC sports presenters: Sue BARKER, Clare BALDING, Gabby LOGAN, Alex SCOTT;
Group 2 - Towns in Ayrshire, Scotland: KILMARNOCK, LARGS, SALTCOATS, TROON;
Group 3 - Names end with climbing plants: CORNERS(HOP), MONT(ROSE), PR(IVY), SICI(LIANA);
Group 4 - Cities in Orange County, California: BREA, CYPRESS, ORANGE, WESTMINSTER.

Hidden word: IRVINE
(Hazel IRVINE, a town in Ayrshire, IR(VINE), a city in Orange County)

Wall 11 (solved by @MOehm)

(Sports) Group 1 - Australian goalkeepers who played in the Premier League: Mark BOSNICH, Adam FEDERICI, John FILAN, Mark SCHWARZER;
Group 2 - Contains a number written out: FUN(NINE)SS, NE(TWO)RK, S(TEN)T, W(EIGHT)ED;
Group 3 - Surnames of actors whose first names are months: April BOWLBY, August DIEHL, May MCAVOY, June WHITFIELD;
Group 4 - Harrison Ford characters: John BOOK, Richard KIMBLE, Jack RYAN, Han SOLO.

Hidden word: JONES
(Brad JONES, J(ONE)S, January JONES, Indiana JONES)

Wall 12 (solved by @JS1)

(Sports) Group 1 - First words of athletics field events: HAMMER (throw), HIGH (jump), POLE (vault), SHOT (put);
Group 2 - Words that can be prefixed by 'PRO' to form other words: proACTIVE, proCURE, proFIT, proVINCE;
Group 3 - Words that can precede 'RUN': DRY run, DUMMY run, HOME run, RAT run;
Group 4 - Words that can precede 'BOAT': GUNboat, LIFEboat, PLEASURE boat, SPEEDboat.

Hidden word: LONG
(LONG jump, proLONG, LONG run, LONGboat)

Wall 13 (solved by @Alaiko)

(Sports) Group 1 - Words that start with the surname of a player in England's national men's football team: (POPE)YE (Nick Pope), (RICE)PAPER (Declan Rice), (SAKA)GUCHI (Bukayo Saka), (SHAW)L (Luke Shaw);
Group 2 - US time zones: ALASKA, CENTRAL, EASTERN, PACIFIC;
Group 3 - Words that can be followed by 'BIKE': DIRT bike, EXERCISE bike, GHOST bike, PUSH bike;
Group 4 - Rock bands: BOSTON, KANSAS, KISS, RAINBOW.

Hidden word: MOUNTAIN
(Mason (MOUNT)ain, MOUNTAIN time, MOUNTAIN bike, and there is a band named MOUNTAIN)

Wall 14 (solved by @fljx)

(Sports) Group 1 - Personnel involved in a boxing match: COACH, DOCTOR, PROMOTER, REFEREE;
Group 2 - Short periods of time: JIFFY, MINUTE, MOMENT, SHAKE;
Group 3 - Words that start with a trigonometric function: (COS)TCO, (COT)TAGE, (SIN)CERE, (TAN)GERINE;
Group 4 - Words that can be followed by 'STRIKE': BIRD strike, COUNTER-strike, GENERAL strike, HUNGER strike.

Hidden word: SECOND
(Boxing's cornerman, one sixtieth of a minute, (SEC)OND, Second strike)

Wall 15 (solved by @fljx)

(Sports) Group 1 - NBA Commissioners: Walter KENNEDY, Larry O’BRIEN, Maurice PODOLOFF, David STERN;
Group 2 - Medals: AIR, FIELDS, GEORGE, GOLD;
Group 3 - Fictional pirate captains: FLINT (Treasure Island), HOOK (Peter Pan), SPARROW (Pirates of the Caribbean), SHAKESPEARE (Stardust);
Group 4 - Horses from TV shows: CHAMPION (Champion the Wonder Horse), FURY (Fury), HERCULES (Steptoe and Son), TORNADO (Zorro).

Hidden word: SILVER
(Adam SILVER, SILVER medal, Long John SILVER, and the horse from The Lone Ranger)

Wall 16 (solved by @JS1)

(Sports) Group 1 - Types of 'KICK; in football: BICYCLE, CORNER, FREE, GOAL;
Group 2 - "In trouble" when "In a ...": BIND, FIX, JAM, PICKLE;
Group 3 - "On the ...": FENCE, ROPES, RUN, TAKE;
Group 4 - Anagrams of each other: OPTS, POST, STOP, TOPS.

Hidden word: SPOT
(SPOT kick, in a SPOT, on the SPOT, anagram of POTS)

Answer 5

Slightly partial solution to Wall 04 which I hope is acceptable given that it's one of the last two holdouts:

Apple varieties: BRAEBURN CAMEO FUJI GALA
Contain Greek letters: APHID EARHOLE SMUG TIBETANS
Roman ...: CANDLE CATHOLIC HOLIDAY KEMP
Synonyms of names of card or board games: BREAK (Snap), ENCOUNTER (Réunion), SOUTH (Australia?), THIS PLANET (Earth)
Extra word: EMPIRE.

I'm not entirely convinced by

SOUTH (for which "Australia" isn't a great synonym, after all, but that is where the name comes from), I'm not 100% convinced by EARTH, though there are definitely games of that name, and I wonder whether I should be looking for all card games or all board games. (Dominion, the synonym for EMPIRE, is kinda both.)

Answer 6

Wall 5:

1. Words that can end with 'time':
EXTRA time, HALF time, INJURY time, OVER time (all terms used in sports)

2. Words that starts with a dynasties of China:
JINX (Jin Dynasty), MINGLE (Ming Dynasty), SUITE (Sui Dynasty), TANGY (Tang Dynasty)

3. Words that can be prepended with "don't give a " and means that you couldn't care less:
don't give a DAMN, don't give a FIG, don't give a HOOT, don't give a TOSS

4. Words that can be appended with nail:
(FINGER)NAIL, (HOB)NAIL, JIMMY NAIL, RUSTY NAIL

The linking word is HANG
(Hang time, Han Dynasty, don't give a hang, hangnail)

Wall 10:

1. Towns in Ayrshire, Scotland:
KILMARNOCK, LARGS, SALTCOATS, TROON

2. Names end in plant names (specifically climbers):
CORNERSHOP, MONTROSE, PRIVY, SICILIANA

3. Cities in Orange County:
BREA, CYPRESS, ORANGE, WESTMINSTER

4. Female BBC presenters (Sports connection):
Sue BARKER, Claire BALDING, Gabby LOGAN, Alex SCOTT

Linking word is IRVINE
(It is a town in Ayrshire, its name ends in vine, it is a city in Orange County and Hazel Irvine is a BBC presenter.)

Wall 13:

1. Words related to standard time zones:
ALASKA standard time, CENTRAL time, EASTERN time, PACIFIC time

2. Words that can be placed in front of the word bike:
DIRT bike, GHOST bike, PUSH bike, EXERCISE bike

3. Words that start with the surname of a player in England's national team:
SAKAGUCHI (Bukayo Saka), SHAWL, (Luke Shaw), RICEPAPER (Declan Rice), POPEYE (Nick Pope)

All of the English football players can be found here.

4. Words that are the names of rock bands:
KANSAS, BOSTON, KISS, RAINBOW

The linking word is MOUNTAIN.
(MOUNTAIN time, MOUNTAIN bike, there is an English player named Mason Mount, and there is band named Mountain.)

Answer 7

The Meta wall categories appear to be

Words that precede ON: BANG, HANG, HOLD, SPOT

Sportsmen named EDDIE: CHARLTON, HOWE, IRVINE, JONES

Words that precede HAND: DECK, HOT, LONG, SECOND

State Nicknames: EMPIRE (NY), HAWKEYE (IO), MOUNTAIN (WV), SILVER (NV)

The linking word is

STEADY which can precede EDDIE, HAND, ON and STATE.