Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for May 10 #594

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Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. The purple category requires you to find partial team names in other words. If you’re struggling with the 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: MLB numbers.

Green group hint: Zoom!

Blue group hint: Gridiron stars.

Purple group hint: Hockey teams, with a twist.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Baseball stats.

Green group: Moves fast.

Blue group: Hall of Fame running backs.

Purple group: NHL teams, minus the first letter.

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 baseball stats. The four answers are errors, hits, runs and walks.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is moves fast. The four answers are bolts, races, scoots and sprints.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Hall of Fame running backs. The four answers are James, Riggins, Sanders and Sayers.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is NHL teams, minus the first letter. The four answers are angers (Rangers), ruins (Bruins), slanders (Islanders) and tars (Stars).

Toughest Connections: Sports Edition categories

The Connections: Sports Edition puzzle can be tough, but it really depends on which sports you know the most about. My husband aces anything having to do with Formula 1, my best friend is a hockey buff, and I can answer any question about Minnesota teams.

That said, it’s hard to pick the toughest Connections categories, but here are some I found exceptionally mind-blowing.

#1: Serie A Clubs. Answers: Atalanta, Juventus, Lazio, Roma.

#2: WNBA MVPs. Answers: Catchings, Delle Donne, Fowles and Stewart.

#3: Premier League team nicknames. Answers: Bees, Cherries, Foxes and Hammers.

#4: Homophones of NBA player names. Answers: Barns, Connect, Heart and Hero.