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.

Connections: Sports Edition was pretty easy for me today. The yellow group comes together quite easily once you think of the same action that can be done with a few of the words. If you’re familiar with the teams of a certain midwestern state, you’ve got the blue group covered too. 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 show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. You can also 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: Toss it!

Green group hint: Let’s play.

Blue group hint: The Buckeye State.

Purple group hint:  Put the same letter before them.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Throwing events.

Green group: Often found in a game room.

Blue group: Ohio sports teams.

Purple group: Words that can be preceded by T-.

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 throwing events. The four answers are discus, hammer, javelin and shot put.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is often found in a game room. The four answers are air hockey, foosball, ping pong and pool.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Ohio sports teams. The four answers are Bearcats, Bengals, Cavaliers and Reds.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is words that can be preceded by T-. The four answers are ball, Mac, shirt and Wolves.

Quick tips for Connections: Sports Edition

#1: Don’t grab for the easiest group. For each word, think about other sports categories it might fit in – is this a word that can be used in football, or to describe scoring options?

#2: Second meanings are important. The puzzle loves to use last names and even college names that mean other things, to fool you into thinking they are words, not names.

#3: And the opposite is also true. Words like HURTS might seem like a regular word, but it’s also the last name of at least one pro athlete.

Whether you’re snapping away on your iPhone 16 Pro or Galaxy S25 Ultra, or if you’re using a great mirrorless camera, it’s never been easier to take stunning photos wherever you are. But all too often those images sit on our devices for years, cluttering up our camera roll and never being given the attention they deserve. Using those pictures to create beautiful wall art pulls them from the depths of your hard drive and shows off those stunning moments all around your home, providing a wonderful reminder of the good times you had and the beautiful places you’ve seen. 

As a photographer myself, I know how it feels having countless photos I’m really proud of that just sit on my computer never to be looked at again. I also know how amazing it can feel to see my work printed out nice and big, so I’ve put together some of my favorite ways that I display photos in my own home. 

Read more: Best Cameras to Buy in 2025 

Go big with a canvas

I’ve had small canvas prints before and they’ve looked OK, but this gigantic canvas makes a real statement. At 47 by 47 inches, it’s a real beast of a print and I had it hung over my stairwell to really show it off and add some color in an otherwise plain space. 

While any image will work for a canvas print, I specifically wanted to go with something a little more abstract, opting for a square print of this coastal scene, that brings great seaside vibes into my house. 

Buy canvas prints from Cewe UK here. 

Read more: Best Camera Phone in 2025

Create a stark monochrome aluminum print

I love black-and-white photography and was especially pleased when I took some moody monochrome images using my converted infrared camera while on holiday on the beautiful Isle of Skye in Scotland. Printed onto aluminum, these prints have a smooth, matte finish that’s free of any reflections and lends itself well to high contrast black-and-white images. 

I had a print made in a whopping 55 by 41 inches and it’s a stunning addition to my home studio space, standing out nicely against the gray wall. My aluminum print came with hanging rails mounted on the back, although you can also use other wall fixings, as long as they’re strong enough. These large prints are heavy! 

Buy aluminum prints from Cewe UK here. 

Split your image into an eye-catching triptych

A triptych refers to any image that is displayed in three parts, whether it’s three different images designed to be displayed together, or one image broken up into sections. I went for the latter option, splitting a wide, cinematic view over a wintery Edinburgh into three foam board panels, each measuring 23 by 15 inches. 

Hanging them in perfect alignment took a bit of doing, but I love the look of the three of them together. It takes what would be an otherwise regular print and gives it a slightly more modern, interesting twist by breaking it up, while still maintaining the visual impact of the original image. 

Try creating triptychs using wide landscape scenes, cityscapes or other panoramic images. Or try it using three different images either from the same occasion (a wedding or holiday) or grouped by theme (black-and-white images, or three locations in different seasons).

Buy triptych prints from Cewe UK here. 

Splash some color with an acrylic print

Acrylic prints are great options for vibrant images, as the way that light passes through the thick material allows colors to really pop with a satisfying contrast that almost gives the print a 3D effect.  

I went with a print of an image I shot of the Northern Lights, shimmering over a bay in Iceland. It’s an incredibly colorful image, with vivid greens and yellows from the aurora, mixed in with deep blue tones in the night sky and I absolutely love how it looks in the 55-by-41-inch print. 

Hanging it involved screwing mounting points into my wall, which is a bit fiddly for a DIY novice like myself to get right, but I love how the image looks against the deep blue of my room. 

Buy acrylic prints from Cewe UK here. 

Create a modern, hexagonal display

Hexxas tiles allow you to print your images on hexagons that you can then build up into an interesting honeycomb pattern on your wall. The seven tiles I received were enough to create a neat circular pattern, but you can order loads more and create much more interesting shapes that spread across your wall. 

They’re a great way of showing lots of images as part of one set, so consider how you can theme your tiles so they work in harmony. I opted for a selection of my natural macro images, grouping shots of mushrooms and leaves that work well together. But these tiles would work really well to show off your images from various vacations, adding to them as you travel each year, resulting in an ever-expanding display of beautiful, modern-looking prints. 

Buy Hexxas hexagonal tile prints from Cewe UK here. 

Frame a hero print for a classic look

Going with a classic frame for your print may not feel like the most exciting, modern way to show off your photos, but sometimes the classics really work and will allow your prints to stand the test of time. But if you still want your framed art to make a statement on your wall then you need to go big. 

I went for the largest 20-by-30-inch framed print Cewe offered, filling the black frame with an iconic view of the Old Man of Storr on the Isle of Skye. I love how timeless this piece of art looks on my wall and how well it fits against the other, smaller framed prints from other parts of Scotland. 

Buy large framed prints from Cewe UK here. 

Pack your memories into a stunning photo book

Not all your photographic artwork has to live on your walls. A photo book can be an amazing way to show off a whole selection of images that really tell the story of an occasion. Wedding albums are of course the most obvious ones to go for as you can include all of your images from the happy day into one book that you — and your family and friends — will enjoy flicking through for years to come. 

But I’ve also loved creating photo books with sets of images from specific holidays around the world. I often keep photo books in mind when I’m away, ensuring I shoot lots of images that really tell the story of a location — architecture, shop fronts, food, street art — that will then fill the pages of my book like it’s a luxury travel magazine. 

Good photo book makers (including Cewe) will allow you to fully customize the layout of your images, along with the paper type and choice of outer finishes. Cewe also offers books made with 100% recycled paper. 

Buy photo books from Cewe UK here. 

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.

As a Minnesota music fan, I got a kick out of 6-Across and 7-Across in today’s NYT Mini Crossword, as they highlight a famed singer from my state. Hint: There’s a recent movie about his early days in New York. 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: T-t-t-turn up the heat!»
Answer: BRR

4A clue: Like fare at a fair, fairly often
Answer: FRIED

6A clue: A complete unknown?
Answer: RANDO

7A clue: A Rolling Stone?
Answer: ISSUE

8A clue: Witch’s spell
Answer: HEX

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: In-your-face assertive
Answer: BRASH

2D clue: Help with the dishes
Answer: RINSE

3D clue: Done again in a similar way
Answer: REDUX

4D clue: The «F» of T.G.I.F.: Abbr.
Answer: FRI

5D clue: Fawn’s mother
Answer: DOE

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.