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Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easy if you follow West Coast sports closely.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: In the bay

• Green: Modern-day Babe Ruth

• Blue: NFL Mike

• Purple: Sounds like a baseball team

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Bay Area Teams

• Green: Associated with Shohei Ohtani

• Blue: Coaching Mikes

• Purple: MLB Teams, With The Last Letter Changed

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections: Sports Edition #502 is...

• Bay Area Teams - 49ERS, GIANTS, SHARKS, VALKYRIES

• Associated with Shohei Ohtani - DECOY, DODGERS, JAPAN, TWO-WAY

• Coaching Mikes - MACDONALD, MCCARTHY, TOMLIN, VRABEL

• MLB Teams, With The Last Letter Changed - ANGELO, CUBA, REDO, WINE

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

Needed for shaving.

RAZOR

To babble.

BLURT

Compact.

TIGHT

See-through.

GLASS

A cavity.

GEODE

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

The Moon is appearing a little less illuminated each night as we move toward the next stage of the lunar cycle, the Third Quarter. During this phase, any visible features on its surface will be lit on the left side.

As of Saturday, Feb. 7, the Moon phase is Waning Gibbous. According to NASA's Daily Moon Guide, 71% of the Moon will be lit up tonight.

Looking up with just your naked eye, you should be able to see the Mares Vaporum and Imbrium and the Aristarchus Plateau. With binoculars, you'll also be able to see Clavius, Gassendi, and the Archimedes Craters. If you have a telescope, you'll also be able to see the Apollo 12 and 11 landing spots as well as the Linne Crater.

The next Full Moon will be on March 3.

NASA says that a complete lunar cycle takes about 29.5 days, which is the time the Moon needs to orbit Earth once. During this cycle, it goes through eight distinct phases. While the same side of the Moon always faces Earth, the visible portion that is illuminated changes as the Moon travels along its orbit. The varying amount of sunlight reflected off the Moon is what causes it to appear fully lit, partially lit, or nearly dark at different stages. The eight phases of the Moon are:

New Moon - The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter - Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon - The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous - The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) - Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.