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Today's Connections: Sports Edition features a fun, if challenging, word scramble in the purple category. 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: Near the field of play.

Green group hint: Caw! Caw!

Blue group hint: Signal-callers.

Purple group hint: Mixed-up hoops.

Answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Things on an NFL sideline.

Green group: NFL teams with bird nicknames.

Blue group: NFC quarterbacks.

Purple group: Anagrams of NBA teams.

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 things on an NFL sideline. The four answers are benches, chains, coaches and medical tent.

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is NFL teams with bird nicknames. The four answers are Cardinals, Eagles, Ravens and Seahawks.

The blue words in today's Connections

The theme is NFC quarterbacks. The four answers are Hurts, Love, Purdy and Young.

The purple words in today's Connections

The theme is anagrams of NBA teams. The four answers are hate (Heat), parrots (Raptors), scrape (Pacers) and thrones (Hornets).