Cracking the Code: A Fresh Look at Today's Sports Puzzle

Ever felt like you need a sports degree to tackle today's puzzle? The latest edition of the popular word game is giving players a run for their money. The challenge? It's all about knowing your colleges and their sports stars.

Game Details

The game, which started as a test run, has now become a permanent fixture. It launched on a big sports day, showing that it's gained a solid fan base. You can find it in a sports news app or play it for free online.

Getting Started

The puzzle has four groups, each with a different difficulty level:

• Yellow Group (Easiest): Hitting a batter with a pitch.
• Green Group: Schools in a certain college sports conference.
• Blue Group: Quarterbacks who've won big games.
• Purple Group (Toughest): Famous people from a well-known university.

Answers

• Yellow Group: Words like "bean," "drill," "hit," and "plunk."
• Green Group: Schools like James Madison, Marshall, Old Dominion, and Troy.
• Blue Group: Quarterbacks like Elway, Manning, Starr, and Staubach.
• Purple Group: Stanford alumni like Ledecky, Luck, McCaffrey, and Ogwumike.

Tips for Solving the Puzzle

1. Don't jump at the easiest group right away. Think about other sports categories a word might fit into.
2. Remember that words can have second meanings. The puzzle loves to trick you with names that sound like regular words.
3. The opposite is also true. Words that seem regular might actually be names of athletes.