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Today's Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. It helps if you know your soccer, both US and UK. 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: Kick it into the goal.

Green group hint: Start your engines.

Blue group hint: Big Apple basketballers.

Purple group hint: Soccer stadiums.

Answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: MLS teams.

Green group: NASCAR tracks.

Blue group: New York Knicks.

Purple group: Words in the names of Premier League venues.

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 MLS teams. The four answers are Rapids, Timber, Union and Whitecaps.

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is NASCAR tracks. The four answers are Bristol, Daytona, Pocono and Watkins Glen.

The blue words in today's Connections

The theme is New York Knicks.The four answers are Bridges, Brunson, Hart and Towns.

The purple words in today's Connections

The theme is words in the names of Premier League venues. The four answers are Craven, Molineux, Stamford and Villa.