Today’s NYT Links: Sports Edition Tips, Answers for January 3, #102

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Medium difficulty for me Links: Sports Edition today. But no logos or pictures, so if you’re among the players who just hate them, you might be good for a day. 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: Be careful!

Green Group Tip: Start your engines.

Blue Group Tip: Golden State Greats.

A hint of a purple group: like Buscemi or Carrel.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow Group: Hit a batter with a pitch.

Green Group: Checkered flags in NASCAR.

Blue Group: Members of the Dynasty of Wars.

Purple Group: Steve ____.

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 theme is hitting a batter with a pitch. The four answers are bean, drill, hit and plunk.

The green words in today’s relationships

The theme is flags in NASCAR. The four answers are checkered, red, white and yellow.

The blue words in today’s relationships

The theme is Dynasty Warriors. The four answers are Curry, Green, Kerr and Thompson.

Purple words in today’s relationships

The subject is Steve ____. The four answers are Carlton, McNair, Prefontaine and Yzerman.