The New York Times Connections puzzle is a game in which players are given 16 words and asked to put them into four groups that are somehow connected. Game editor Wyna Liu knows how to trick players by using words that can fit into more than one group, making it a challenging brainteaser. The game is different from Wordle, which is more of a vocabulary test. In today’s Connections puzzle, players are given hints for the groupings, ranging from the easiest yellow group to the tough purple group. The yellow group hint is “Modern workers stare at these,” the green group hint is “Possible accessories for Gypsy Rose Lee,” the blue group hint is “Light brown paint names,” and the purple group hint is “Words that sound like languages.”
The answers for today’s Connections groups are as follows: Yellow group – Visual interface (display, monitor, screen, terminal), Green group – Burlesque wear (boa, corset, fan, gloves), Blue group – Beige shades (buff, cream, fawn, tan), Purple group – Language homophones (bask, check, finish, tie – Basque, Czech, Finnish, Thai). Players need to carefully consider the words and think about related terms in order to correctly group them. Sometimes the connection between words may only be a part of the word, leading to unexpected groupings.
One of the strategies for playing Connections is to mentally assign the words to related groups of four. Players can then click on the four words they believe go together, with the groups being coded by color. The yellow group is the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple as the toughest. Sometimes the connection between words may be subtle or based on a shared characteristic. For example, in one puzzle, four words were grouped together because they all started with the name of a rock band, such as “Rushmore” and “Journeyman.” Overall, playing Connections is straightforward, but finding the correct connections can be challenging and rewarding.
