Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for Oct. 21, #28

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.

Have you been enjoying the New York Times Connections puzzle? Now, there’s a new version of the game focusing on sports-related words It’s simply called Connections: Sports Edition, and we have hints and the answers.

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

Read more: NYT Has a New Connections Game for Sports Fans. I Tried It

How to play Connections: Sports Edition

The rules are pretty much the same as the regular game. You’re given 16 words and asked to put them into four groups that are somehow connected. The main difference is that all the words and categories have some kind of sports tie-in. Sometimes the categories seem obvious, but the game attempts to trick you by using sports-related words that can fit into more than one group. The four groups of words have different difficulty levels. Yellow is the easiest and purple the hardest, but you won’t know which color group is which until you solve the puzzle.

You don’t have to be a sports obsessive to solve Connections: Sports Edition, but it helps to know a little bit about a bunch of different sports and athletes. The words might include player names, team names or sport-related activities.

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: Hanging at the alley.

Green group hint: Three per inning.

Blue group hint: Not small, but…

Purple group hint: Think oxygen

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Bowling terms

Green group: Types of baseball outs

Blue group: “Big” baseball nicknames

Purple group: Air ____

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: Sports Edition

The theme is bowling terms. The four answers are frame, gutter, spare and split.

The green words in today’s Connections: Sports Edition

The theme is types of baseball outs. The four answers are fly, ground, pop and strike.

The blue words in today’s Connections: Sports Edition

The theme is “big” baseball nicknames. The four answers are Hurt, Mac, Papi and Unit

The purple words in today’s Connections: Sports Edition

The theme is air ____. The four answers are ball, Bud, Force and hockey.