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Today's Connections: Sports Edition is a fun one, with a mix of topics and difficulties. If you're struggling with today's 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: Take the place of.

Green group hint: Hang ten!

Blue group hint: Honored pitchers.

Purple group hint: Baseball beginnings.

Answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Substitute.

Green group: Surfing terms.

Blue group: AL Cy Young Award winners.

Purple group: Starts of MLB team names.

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 substitute. The four answers are pull, replace, take out and yank.

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is surfing terms. The four answers are barrel, crest, swell and wave.

The blue words in today's Connections

The theme is AL Cy Young Award winners. The four answers are Bieber, Cone, Fingers and Price.

The purple words in today's Connections

The theme is starts of MLB team names. The four answers are Blue, Brew, Card and Rock.