Connections is a puzzle game featured in the New York Times where players are given 16 words and asked to group them into four categories that are somehow connected. The game editor sometimes uses tricky words that can fit into multiple groups, making it more challenging. The game is more of a brainteaser compared to Wordle, which is more of a vocabulary test. There are also winning tips provided for Strands, a new game from the Times that is still in beta.
Hints are provided for each group in the Connections puzzle to help players figure out the connections. The hints range from easier to more difficult, with the yellow group being the easiest and the purple group being the toughest. Today’s hints include soundalike words for the yellow group, something Arnold Schwarzenegger would know for the green group, characteristics of rock or country for the blue group, and settings on an appliance knob for the purple group.
The answers for today’s Connections puzzle are revealed, with the yellow group consisting of homophones such as bi, buy, by, and bye. The green group features informal terms for muscles like ab, pec, quad, and tri. The blue group focuses on music genres including dub, emo, pop, and trap. The purple group involves settings on an appliance knob like hi, lo, med, and off. Players can use these answers to improve their understanding of the game and how to approach future puzzles.
To play Connections, players need to mentally assign the 16 words to related groups of four. They can then click on the four words they believe belong together. The groups are color-coded, but the specific categories are not revealed until the answers are shown. Players should carefully consider the words and think about related terms to make the correct groupings. Sometimes, connections may be based on just a part of a word, adding an extra layer of challenge to the game. For example, some words may be grouped together because they share the name of a rock band, like “Rushmore” and “Journeyman.”
