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 is a tough one, but I lucked into answering the purple category first. 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: Olympics.

Green group hint: 2009 Super Bowl winners.

Blue group hint: Specific QB.

Purple group hint: City by the Bay.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Decathlon events.

Green group: Associated with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Blue group: Associated with C.J. Stroud.

Purple group: What «SF» might refer to.

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 decathlon events. The four answers are 100 meters, discus, long jump and shot put.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The four answers are black and yellow, Immaculate Reception, Renegade and Terrible Towels.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with C.J. Stroud. The four answers are No. 2 pick, Ohio State, Rookie of the Year and Texans.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is what «SF» might refer to. The four answers are 49ers, sacrifice fly, semifinal and small forward.

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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 could be tough. It’s an unusual topic with some long answers, and some of them 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: Appeal to a hire power.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Get a job.

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:

• DANCE, DANCES, DANCER, DANCERS, MEAN, NAMES, MEANS, CONE

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:

• NAME, AWARDS, SKILLS, EDUCATION, CONTACT, EXPERIENCE

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is RESUME. To find it, start with the R that’s four letters down in the far-left column, and wind up and over.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

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.

Ceftazidime? Really, New York Times? That’s how we’re going to play it today? Obviously, today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough, thanks to that word, plus some other tricky ones. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times 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 the 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: Home decor.

Green group hint: Think of the name of Jimi Hendrix’s group.

Blue group hint: We made a deal.

Purple group hint: Money is hidden in these words.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Living room furniture.

Green group: Experience levels.

Blue group: Promise.

Purple group: Ending in U.S. coins.

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 living room furniture. The four answers are armchair, bookcase, console and footstool.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is experience levels. The four answers are expert, intermediate, novice and proficient.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is promise. The four answers are agreement, compact, handshake and understanding.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ending in US coins. The four answers are Ceftazidime, headquarter, Moneypenny and pumpernickel.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.