Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Notes and Answers for October 16, #23

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Did you like the New York Times Connections puzzle? Now there's a new version of the game that focuses on sports-related words. It's simply called Connections: Sports Edition and we have clues and answers.

Currently, the game is in beta, meaning the Times is testing it to see if it's popular before adding it to the site's gaming app. You'll be able to play it for free every day for the next few weeks – and then we'll have to see if it sticks.

Read more: NYT has a new connection game for sports fans. I tried

How to play Connections: Sports Edition

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

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

Notes for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four clues for the groupings in today's Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ordered from the easiest yellow group to the difficult (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Note on the yellow group: Think trampolines

Note from the green group: Windy City fandoms

Note on the blue group: Dubs from the University of Washington is one of them

Note on the purple group: Behind the mask

Answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Jump

Green group: Chicago sports teams

Blue group: Live college football mascot

Purple group: MLB catchers nicknames

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here are the most popular letters used in English words

What are today's answers to Connections: Sports Edition?

The yellow words in today's Connections: Sports Edition

The theme is jump. The four answers are bound, hop, skip and jump

The green words in today's Connections: Sports Edition

The topic is Chicago sports teams. The four answers are bears, bulls, cubs and sky.

The blue words in today's Connections: Sports Edition

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: Sports Edition

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