Looking for the most recent 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, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

My 1980s brothers and sisters, the blue category is calling our names. Gag me with a spoon! If you need help with today’s NYT Connections puzzle, read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

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

Yellow group hint: Make peace.

Green group hint: Deck out your essay.

Blue group hint: Totally tubular!

Purple group hint: A moral or legal obligation.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Arbitrate.

Green group: Things you can insert in a document.

Blue group: ’80s slang.

Purple group: ____ duty.

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

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is arbitrate. The four answers are chair, judge, mediate and moderate.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is things you can insert in a document.  The four answers are chart, image, table and text box.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is ’80s slang. The four answers are chill, psych, radical and word.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is types of duty. The four answers are civic, customs, heavy and jury.

Toughest Connections puzzles

We’ve made a note of some of the toughest Connections puzzles so far. Maybe they’ll help you see patterns in future puzzles.

#5: Included «things you can set,» such as mood, record, table and volleyball.

#4: Included «one in a dozen,» such as egg, juror, month and rose.

#3: Included «streets on screen,» such as Elm, Fear, Jump and Sesame.

#2: Included «power ___» such as nap, plant, Ranger and trip.

#1: Included «things that can run,» such as candidate, faucet, mascara and nose.

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.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition was fun but not too difficult. It helps to know a little baseball, and to be familiar with football in a certain city acclaimed for its weather and zoo. 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. 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: Throw it in there.

Green group hint: How to watch.

Blue group hint: Signal-callers, in a famously sunny city.

Purple group hint: Moving back and forth.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Baseball pitches that end in «ball.»

Green group: Ways to take in a sporting event.

Blue group: Chargers QBs, past and present.

Purple group: Things one can swing.

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 baseball pitches that end in «ball.» The four answers are curve, fast, knuckle and screw.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is ways to take in a sporting event. The four answers are in person, radio, streaming and television.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Chargers QBs, past and present. The four answers are Brees, Fouts, Herbert and Rivers.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is things one can swing. The four answers are baseball bat, fist, golf club and momentum.

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.

If you’re a committed Apple fan, then you probably want to get all of the best accessories. One that’s often overlooked is the Apple Pencil Pro. It’s normally $129, which is a big ask, but we’ve found an excellent deal today that makes it more affordable.

Woot currently has a deal on a new, open-boxApple Pencil Pro that brings it down to just $80. This is the cheapest we’ve ever seen the device, and while it’s not brand-new, it still comes with at least 60 days of warranty. Act quickly, though, as we’re not expecting this deal to last long.

The Apple Pencil Pro, the first new model introduced since 2023, launched in May of 2024. This upgraded version has pressure sensitivity that closely resembles the feel of a real pen, along with the convenience of magnetic charging. Notably, the Pro model also incorporates gestures and haptics, allowing you to perform actions like squeezing the pen to open menus, rolling it to select different tools and using a hover gesture to preview strokes. These enhancements are designed to eliminate barriers between you and your digital creations, making the drawing experience more intuitive and seamless.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

The Pro model Apple Pencil is compatible with the iPad Pro 13-inch (with the M4 chip), iPad Pro 11-inch (M4), iPad Air 13-inch (M2) and iPad Air 11-inch (M2).

If you’ve been eyeing a new Apple Pencil, now is the time to jump on this deal. Looking at fleshing out your Apple ecosystem? We’ve got all the best deals on Apple’s tablets and we’ll be updating the list regularly to make sure you get the best prices, too.

Why this deal matters 

The Apple Pencil Pro rarely goes on sale, and even when it does, the lowest price we’ve ever seen for it is $90. This deal is $10 less than that, and while it’s technically open box, it still comes with a warranty for at least 60 days. So if you’re interested, act fast.