Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for October 26, No. 33

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

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Did you enjoy the New York Times Connections Puzzle? Now there is a new version of the game that focuses on sports-related words. It’s called plain Connections: Sports Editionand we have hints and the answers.

For now, the game is in beta, meaning the Times is testing it out to see if it’s popular before adding it to the site’s Games app. You’ll be able to play it for free daily for the next few weeks – and then we’ll have to see if it sticks.

Read more: NYT has a Connections game for sports fans. I tried it

How to play Connections: Sports Edition

The rules are almost the same as the regular game. You are given 16 words and asked to divide them into four groups that are connected in some way. The main difference is that all words and categories are sport-related in some way. Sometimes the categories seem obvious, but the game tries to mislead you by using sports-related words that fit into more than one group. And the four groups of words have different levels of difficulty. Yellow is the easiest and purple the hardest, but you won’t know which color group which is until you have solved the puzzle.

You don’t have to be a sports obsessive to solve Connections: Sports Edition, but it helps if you know something about a lot of different sports and athletes. The words can include player names, team names, or sports-related activities.

Tips 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 difficult (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Rocky.

Green group hint: Where the wind blows across the plain.

Blue group hint: Hamilton throws his…

Purple group hint: Billy Joel tried to fight it.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Boxing conditions.

Green group: Oklahoma QBs.

Blue group: ____ shot.

Purple group: Athletes mentioned in We Didn’t Start The Fire.

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 boxing terms. The four answers are hook, jab, knockdown and uppercut.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is Oklahoma QBs. The four answers are Bradford, Hurts, Mayfield and Murray.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is ____ shot. The four answers are cheap, jump, long and blow.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is athletes mentioned in the song We Didn’t Start The Fire. The four answers are Campanella, DiMaggio, Mantle and Marciano.