Connections: Sports Edition No. 144 for Feb. 14 does not take it easy on the players.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9.  That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will be continuing to publish it. It won’t show up in the NYT Games app but will appear in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.  I thought today’s puzzle was especially tough — it’s got a lot of athlete names, and warning to my fellow Yanks, not all of them are American. Read on for hints and the answers.

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: Not any

Green group hint: You’re so good at that

Blue group hint: Darnold is another.

Purple group hint: Skilled soccer players

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: None

Green group: Special ability

Blue group: NFC quarterbacks

Purple group: Premier League forwards

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 none. The four answers are love, nil, zero and zip.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is special ability. The four answers are flair, gift, skill and talent.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is NFC quarterbacks The four answers are Daniels, Goff, Mayfield and Stafford.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Premier League forwards. The four answers are Haaland, Salah, Son and Vardy.

Quick tips for Connections: Sports Edition

#1: Don’t grab for the easiest group. For each word, think about other sports categories it might fit in – is this a word that can be used in football, or to describe scoring options?

#2: Second meanings are important. The puzzle loves to use last names and even college names that mean other things, to fool you into thinking they are words, not names.

#3: And the opposite is also true. Words like HURTS might seem like a regular word, but it’s also the last name of at least one pro athlete