Today’s New York Times Communications: Sports Edition Tips, Answers for December 18, #86

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A certain legendary Yankee gets his own category Communications: Mathematical Edition. I hope you know some nicknames for this player! I probably knew half of them, but it seemed fairly obvious that they were nicknames, so I did well. Thanks to my daughter participating in roller derby years ago, I was able to answer a category related to this topic as well.

Right now, the game is still 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 daily for free now – and then we’ll have to see if it continues.

Read more: NYT has a communications game for sports fans. I’ve tried it

Tips for today’s connections: Sports Edition kits

Here are four pool hints in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzles, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the difficult (and sometimes weird) purple group.

Yellow group tip: Fools in court.

Green group tip: It was number 2

Blue group tip: Cheerfully we roll along.

Purple group tip: Volleyball is another possible answer.

Answers to Today’s Communications: Collections Mathematical Edition

Yellow group: Basketball violations

Green group: Derek Jeter nicknames

Blue group: Roller derby terminology

Purple group: ____ ball

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here are the most common letters used in English words

What is Today’s Communications: Sports Edition Answers?

Yellow words in today’s communications

The topic is basketball violations. The four answers are backcourt, double dribble, goalie, and travel.

Green words in today’s communications

The topic is Derek Jeter’s nicknames. The four answers are Captain, DJ, Jets and Mr. November.

Blue words in today’s communications

The topic is roller derby terminology. The four answers are damper, bridge, distortion, and coax.

Purple words in today’s communications

The subject is ____ the ball. The four answers are air, foul, golf, and Lonzo.