Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Editing Tips, Answers for December 24 #457

In search of most recent regular responses to Connections? Click here for today’s connection tipsplus our daily answers and tips for the New York Times mini crossword, Wordle, and Strands puzzles.

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Today Connections: sports edition is a bit harsh, with a lot of proper nouns included. If you’re having trouble but still want to resolve it, read on for tips and answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the Times-owned subscription sports journalism site. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it online for free.

Learn more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle exits beta

Tips for Connections Groups: Sports Today’s Edition

Here are four clues for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ordered from the easiest yellow group to the difficult (and sometimes weird) purple group.

Yellow group index: What separates two entities.

Green group index: Direction the mountains.

Blue group index: Mitten manufacturers.

Purple group index: Hit him.

Connections Group Answers: Today’s Sports Edition

Yellow group: Gap between two opponents.

Green group: The needs of a skier.

Blue group: Baseball glove manufacturers.

Purple group: NFL bettors.

Learn more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are the answers from today’s Connections: Sports Edition?

Yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is the gap between two opponents. The four answers are advantage, advantage, lead and margin.

Green words in today’s Connections

The theme is the needs of the skier. The four answers are boots, poles, skis and snow.

Blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is baseball glove manufacturers. The four answers are Mizuno, Nike, Rawlings and Wilson.

Purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is NFL bettors. The four answers are Anger, Haack, Stout and Way.

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Toughest Connections: Sports Publishing Categories

The Connections: Sports Edition puzzle can be difficult, but it really depends on which sports you know best. My husband is successful at anything Formula 1 related, my best friend is an avid hockey fan, and I can answer any questions you have about Minnesota teams.

That said, it’s hard to pick the hardest hookup categories, but here are a few that I’ve found to be exceptionally mind-blowing recently.

#1: Serie A clubsJanuary 11. Answers: Atalanta, Juventus, Lazio, Roma.

#2: WNBA MVPJanuary 21. Answers: Catchings, Delle Donne, Fowles and Stewart.

#3: Premier League team nicknamesJanuary 17. Answers: bees, cherries, foxes and hammers.

#4: Homophones of NBA player namesJanuary 26. Answers: Barns, Connect, Heart and Hero.