Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition contains a lot of team names, and is a bit tricky to solve. If you’re struggling with the puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group hint: Frogs are known for it.

Green group hint: Tar Heel state.

Blue group hint: Started in the late 20th century.

Purple group hint: Not baseball.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Jump.

Green group: Schools in North Carolina.

Blue group: 1990s expansion teams.

Purple group: Athletes Unlimited softball league teams.

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is jump.

The four answers are bound, hop, leap and spring.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is schools in North Carolina.

The four answers are Appalachian State, Duke, High Point and Wake Forest.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is 1990s expansion teams.

The four answers are Grizzlies, Jaguars, Rockies and Sharks.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Athletes Unlimited softball league teams.

The four answers are Bandits, Blaze, Cascade and Talons.

CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” She’s been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She’s Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line.

See full bio