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.

The Winter Olympics start today, and today’s Connections: Sports Edition focuses on the big event. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for 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: Cities.

Green group hint: In the air, while on ice.

Blue group hint: Red, white and blue, seeking gold.

Purple group hint: Going down the mountain.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Italian Olympic hosts.

Green group: Figure skating jumps.

Blue group: Americans at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Purple group: Ski ____.

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 Italian Olympic hosts. The four answers are Cortina D’Ampezzo, Milan, Rome and Turin.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is figure skating jumps. The four answers are axel, loop, lutz and salchow.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Americans at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The four answers are Chock, Malinin, Stolz and Vonn.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ski ____. The four answers are cross, jumping, mountaineering and resort.

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 has a few real puzzlers. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so 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: Let’s face it.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Look in the mirror.

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:

• WOKE, LINE, LINER, TEES, ROBE, ROBES, ROBS, SOBS, SIRE, THEE, HEAR

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 have 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:

• EYES, NOSE, BROWS, MOUTH, CHEEKS, FOREHEAD, HAIRLINE

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is FEATURES. To find it, start with the F that’s three letters to the right on the bottom row, and wind up.