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Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. It all depends on how well you know non-mainstream professional sports. 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: Ball in basket.

Green group hint: One for the non-Americans.

Blue group hint: It’s (not) coming home.

Purple group hint: Flexible flyers.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Make a shot in basketball.

Green group: Cricket equipment.

Blue group: Last four winners of the Men’s World Cup.

Purple group: Famous gymnasts, minus a letter.

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 make a shot in basketball. The four answers are drain, drill, sink and swish.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is cricket equipment. The four answers are bail, ball, bat and stump.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is last four winners of the Men’s World Cup. The four answers are Argentina, France, Germany and Spain.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is famous gymnasts, minus a letter. The four answers are bile (Simone Biles), chile (Jordan Chiles), le (Suni Le) and mille (Shannon Miller).

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