Today’s NYT Links: Sports Edition Tips, Answers for June 19 #634

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Today Connections: Sports Edition is hard. Hopefully you know the USA Men’s World Cup Team! If you’re struggling with the puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for tips and 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 appear in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it online for free.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle is out of beta

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: Keep running!

Green Group Advice: It’s time to brag.

Blue Group Tip: The Yankees are playing.

A hint of a purple band: Freedom ____.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Part of a competition.

Green group: Show yourself.

Blue group: US men’s soccer players.

Purple group: ____ bell.

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 topic is part of a competition. The four answers are lap, leg, segment and stage.

The green words in today’s relationships

The theme is showing off. The four answers are parade, grandstand, hotdog, and showboat.

The blue words in today’s relationships

The topic is USA Men’s Soccer Players. The four answers are Balogun, Dest, Ream and Scally.

Purple words in today’s relationships

The subject is ____ bell. The four answers are a bar, a Cool Papa, a kettle and a win.

Hardest Links: Sports Edition Categories

The Connections: Sports Edition puzzle can be difficult, but it really depends on which sports you know the most about. My husband handles all things F1, my best friend is a hockey fan, and I can answer any question about the Minnesota teams.

That said, it’s hard to pick the toughest Connections categories, but here are a few that I found absolutely mind-blowing.

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

#2: WNBA MVP. 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.