Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle might be tricky. You’ll do well if you watch a lot of a certain kind of TV competition. (I don’t, so I did horribly today.) If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. 

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Buzzing in

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Win big.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

• READ, READY, DIME, CHOP, CHOPS, PASS, DREAD, DOME, DOMES, WORD, SHOP, SHOW, WORDS, PARE, SWORD.

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

• LINGO, PYRAMID, JEOPARDY, PASSWORD, CATCHPHRASE.

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is GAMESHOWS.  To find it, start with the G that’s five letters down on the farthest row to the left, and wind across.

Toughest Strands puzzles

Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest in recent weeks.

#1: Dated slang, Jan. 21. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.

#2: Thar she blows! Jan.15. I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT. 

#3: Off the hook, Jan. 9. Similar to the Jan. 15 puzzle in that it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Oh, that purple category in today’s Connections: Sports Edition was a brain-buster. I know all the teams in this particular league, but I would never think to just cut off the beginning of their team name and make words out of it. A real toughie today. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s app. Or you can continue to play it free online.  

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Just starting out.

Green group hint: Great White North.

Blue group hint: College team names.

Purple group hint:  Football names.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Terms for a young athlete.

Green group: Canadian hockey teams.

Blue group: ACC teams.

Purple group: Last four letters of NFL team names.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is terms for a young athlete. The four answers are freshman, prospect, recruit and rookie.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is Canadian hockey teams. The four answers are Canucks, Flames, Jets and Oilers.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is ACC teams. The four answers are Cardinals, Hokies, Hurricanes and Panthers.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is last four letters of NFL team names. The four answers are boys, cons, ions and owns. (Cowboys, Falcons, Lions and Browns.)

Toughest Connections: Sports Edition categories

The Connections: Sports Edition puzzle can be tough, but it really depends on which sports you know the most about. My husband aces anything having to do with Formula 1, my best friend is a hockey buff, and I can answer any question about Minnesota teams.

That said, it’s hard to pick the toughest Connections categories, but here are some I found exceptionally mind-blowing recently.

#1: Series A Clubs, Jan. 11. Answers: Atalanta, Juventus, Lazio, Roma.

#2: WNBA MVPs, Jan. 21. Answers: Catchings, Delle Donne, Fowles and Stewart.

#3: Premier League team nicknames, Jan. 17. Answers: Bees, Cherries, Foxes and Hammers.

#4: Homophones of NBA player names, Jan. 26. Answers: Barns, Connect, Heart and Hero.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword could be tricky. 5-Across and 6-Across stumped me for much longer than they should have — and I’m a Monty Python fan! Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Bad things to see tumbling down a mountain on their own
Answer: SKIS

5A clue: When repeated, «If ya know what I mean …»
Answer: WINK

6A clue: When repeated, «If ya know what I mean …»
Answer: NUDGE

7A clue: Provide funding for
Answer: ENDOW

8A clue: Quartet of awards won by Whoopi Goldberg, for short
Answer: EGOT

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Successfully pulled off, as a deal
Answer: SWUNG

2D clue: Successfully pulled off, as a deal
Answer: KIDDO

3D clue: Gold brick
Answer: INGOT

4D clue: Distort, as data
Answer: SKEW

6D clue: French word before a maiden name
Answer: NEE

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.