Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Have you been enjoying the New York Times Connections puzzle? Now, there's a new version of the game focusing on sports-related words It's simply called Connections: Sports Edition, and we have hints and the answers.

For now, the game is in beta, which means the Times is testing it out to see if it's popular, before adding it to the site's Games app. You can play it daily for the next few weeks for free -- and then we'll have to see if it sticks around. 

Read more: NYT Has a New Connections Game for Sports Fans. I Tried It

How to play Connections: Sports Edition

The rules are pretty much the same as the regular game. You're given 16 words and asked to put them into four groups that are somehow connected. The main difference is that all the words and categories have some kind of sports tie-in. Sometimes the categories seem obvious, but game editor Wyna Liu knows how to trick you by using sports-related words that can fit into more than one group. And the four groups of words have different difficulty levels. Yellow is the easiest and purple the hardest, but you won't know which color group is which until you solve the puzzle.

You don't have to be a sports obsessive to solve Connections: Sports Edition, but it helps to know a little bit about a bunch of different sports and athletes. The words might include player names, team names or sport-related activities.

Hints for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest, yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Think trampoliners

Green group hint: Windy City fandoms

Blue group hint: Dubs of the University of Washington is one

Purple group hint: Behind the mask

Answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Jump

Green group: Chicago sports teams

Blue group: Live college football mascots

Purple group: Nicknames of MLB catchers

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

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is Chicago sports teams. The four answers are Bears, Bulls, Cubs and Sky.

The blue words in today's Connections

The theme is live college football mascots. The four answers are Bevo (University of Texas longhorn steer), Reveille (Texas A&M collie), Smokey (University of Tennessee Bluetick Coonhound) and Uga (University of Georgia English bulldog).

The purple words in today's Connections

The theme is nicknames of MLB catchers. The four answers are Pudge (Iván Rodríguez), Salvy (Salvador Pérez), Yadi (Yadier Molina) and Yogi (Yogi Berra).