The FIFA World Cup Trophy

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The Athletic is getting into the spirit of the World Cup in several ways. One of those is with a special, soccer-themed edition of Connections. (I hate referring to it as “soccer,” so I’ll be calling it by its proper name of football wherever possible from here on out.)

Connections: Soccer Edition is very similar to The New York Times’ original version of Connections, as well as Connections: Sports Edition, which is also run by The Athletic. It’s a daily game that goes live in your neck of the woods at midnight local time and the format is the same.

There are 16 words (or phrases or even symbols) to arrange into four categories. There’s only one correct answer and at least one red herring in each game. You can make three mistakes, but if you make a fourth one, it’s a red card and an early bath. If you have an New York Times account, you can track your stats from day to day.

However, Connections: Soccer Edition is all about football. It will run through the duration of the World Cup, ending with the tournament final on July 19. As with Connections: Sports Edition, it has an optional timer.

Will Jeanes, a senior editor at The Athletic who focuses on football, created this edition. “You won’t need to be a soccer (or football, depending on where you are from) fanatic to play, enjoy and solve these puzzles though — far from it,” Jeanes wrote. “The game is accessible for even the most casual fans, though the experts will still enjoy testing themselves against the timer and their family and friends.”