Today’s NYT Links: Sports Edition Tips, Answers for January 27, #126

Search for the latest regular responses to Connections? Click here for today’s Connections tipsas well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times mini crosswords, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Links: Sports Edition can teach you some sports expressions that you are not familiar with. Make me Of course, it’s the purple category that breaks everything down. Read on for hints and answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle.

For now, the game is in beta, meaning the Times is testing it to see if it’s popular before adding it to the site’s Games app. You can play it every day for free for now — and then we’ll have to see if it sticks.

Read more: The NYT has a link game for sports fans. I tried it

Tips for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

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

Yellow Group Tip: Not favored to win

Green Group Tip: Earn points in hoops

Blue Group Tip: Don’t hit yourself

Purple Group Tip: Take this ball

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Outsider

Green Group: Basketball shots

Blue Group: Avoid hitting the pit

Purple Group: Ways to describe a baseball catch

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 links

The subject is outsider. The four answers are Cinderella, Dark Horse, Long Shot, and Sleeper.

The green words in today’s relationships

The theme is basketball shots. The four answers are three-pointer, dunk, free throw and layup.

The blue words in today’s relationships

The theme is dodging a punch in boxing. The four answers are bob and weave, clinch, duck and slip.

Purple words in today’s relationships

The topic is ways to describe a baseball catch. The four answers are a basket, a shoe string, a snow cone and a spider web.