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Today's Connections: Sports Edition is a fun one. It includes a soccer category for all of us watching the World Cup, and a category tied to the Pacific Northwest City where I live. If you're struggling with the 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: Think World Cup roles.

Green group hint: Emerald City.

Blue group hint: Not named Tom, but close.

Purple group hint: Fore!

Answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Soccer positions.

Green group: Seattle teams.

Blue group: Baseball Tims.

Purple group: Golf ____.

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 soccer positions. The four answers are fullback, goalkeeper, midfielder and striker.

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is Seattle teams. The four answers are Kraken, Reign, Seahawks and Storm.

The blue words in today's Connections

The theme is baseball Tims. The four answers are  Lincecum, Raines, Salmon and Wakefield.

The purple words in today's Connections

The theme is golf ____.  The four answers are course, polo, tee and umbrella.