Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Notes and Answers for January 12, #111

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I didn’t do that well today Connections: Sports Edition. For one thing, I don’t know exactly which colleges certain athletes attended. If you need help, read on for clues and answers to today’s puzzle, Connections: Sports Edition.

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 can play it for free every day for now – and then we’ll have to see if it sticks.

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

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: You can beat them.

Note from the green group: Cheerleaders have that.

Note on the blue group: O’Connell is another.

Note on the purple group: They were volunteers.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Easy opponent

Green group: Spirit

Blue group: NFL head coach

Purple group: Tennessee Alumni

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

The topic is simple opponents. The four answers are breeze, cupcake, pushover and tomato can.

The green words in today’s connections

The theme is spirit. The four answers are enthusiasm, enthusiasm, drive and zeal.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The topic is NFL head coaches. The four answers are Bowles, Campbell, Quinn and Ryans.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The subject is Tennessee alumni. The four answers are Helton, Manning, Parker and Witten.