From the people that bring you the crossword and Spelling Bee, Connections is the NYT Games sensation that has set the internet abuzz. Like Wordle and your other favorites, the game is still word-based, but Connections is fundamentally different from many other games released by NYT Games and can be uniquely frustrating as a result. It tests your ability to group words together into coherent categories and presents a different challenge every time you play it. And, like Wordle and so many other NYT Games, you can share your results with friends and compare them as soon as you’re done.
Like Wordle, and unlike the crossword, it’s a relatively quick game, which means that playing it doesn’t have to eat up your entire day — and you can fit it in whether you’re multitasking at your desk, on the treadmill, or waiting for your flight in the airport. That’s part of the reason so many people have gotten devoted to it — that and the satisfaction of beating something that has stumped all of your friends.
We’ll teach you how to play, but if you just want the hints (or the answers to today’s puzzle), scroll down below.
How to play Connections
The premise of Connections is relatively straightforward. The game gives you 16 words that are totally unsorted, and your job is to sort those words into four categories of four.
How did you do in Connections today? Players must select four groups of four words without making more than three mistakes. https://t.co/L9f4Exk89t pic.twitter.com/86yO3Unw67
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 1, 2024
A group of words may be combined because they’re all associated with another word or thing, like “car parts” or because they have something else in common, like “ends with x.” The categories can be almost anything, and the smart folks behind Connections work extra hard to make sure it’s hard to file things away neatly into categories. There’s plenty of ambiguity, which is why you get four wrong guesses before you lose the game.
After you’ve selected four words, the game will tell you if you’re only one word away from making a match. If you were stuck between two words, this can help you to choose a successful match on your next try.
As you go, Connections should get easier. Once you’ve grouped one category, you have fewer words to choose from for the remaining three, and so on and so forth, until the game is over and you’ve won.
Connections assigns each of these groupings with a corresponding color — yellow, green, blue, and purple. Connections says that yellow is the easiest grouping, followed by green, blue, and purple. You may well find this true most of the time, but it’s not always the case. If the purple grouping corresponds to movie directors one day, and you’re a huge film buff, you might see those connections more easily than the other color groupings.
Some key tips for playing Connections
- Find groups of four words that share common traits. Select your four words, then tap “Submit” to see if you’re right.
- You only get four mistakes. If you fail, the game gives you the answers.
- Categories are very specific. They won’t be simple clues like “places” – think critically!
NYT Connections tips and tricks
If you’re new to Connections, you may be looking for a few helpful, general hints that will help you play the game well from the very beginning:
- Always look at every word before you pick out a category: It can be tempting to just combine the first four related words you see, but Connections can be intentionally misleading about which words go together.
- Don’t discount the way a word is spelled: Although many words are categorized together because of their association with something else, it’s important not to discount how a word is spelled in your efforts to categorize them.
- It always tells you if you’re one away: If you submit a guess where three of your answers are right, and one is wrong, the game will tell you that you’re just one away from a full category. If you’ve narrowed it down to five words that could make sense together, sometimes it’s best not to try different combinations of those words. Instead, see if you can match one of them to a different combination of words — this will make solving the initial grouping easier.
- If a word could fit into two categories, wait to use it: If you see a word that could fit into two possible categories you’re trying to decide between, wait to use it until you’ve created at least one other complete category.
- Try shuffling the board. You can rearrange the placement of the words, which can sometimes help you to make new connections between them.
NYT Connections hints and answers
If you’ve come to this article because you’re stuck on today’s game, in particular, then we have some specific hints that will hopefully help you arrive at the right answer. Before we give the whole thing away, we’re hoping we can just give you a place to start so that you can solve the puzzle on your own.
NYT Connections Hints Today
These hints will first reveal the categories of today’s answers, which should still allow you to sort through which words go into which category on your own. If you need more help, we’ll then give you one word that goes into each category:
Today’s Connections Themes
- Things that are fuzzy
- Things with shells
- Figures in “Shrek”
- Magic __
Today’s Connections one-answer reveals
- Things that are fuzzy — CATERPILLAR
- Things with shells — CLAM
- Figures in “Shrek” — DONKEY
- Magic __ — CARPET
NYT Connections Answers Today
If you’re still struggling to arrive at the answers for today’s quiz, that’s more than okay. We’ve got a full rundown of what the answers were across every category, but be warned, we’re spoiling the answers for today’s Connections below:
- Things that are fuzzy — CATERPILLAR, FLEECE, PEACH, PIPE CLEANER
- Things with shells — CLAM, EGG, NUT, TURTLE
- Figures in “Shrek” — DONKEY, DRAGON, OGRE, PRINCESS
- Magic __ — CARPET, KINGDOM, MARKER, MUSHROOM
The puzzle changes every day, so if you struggled to solve today’s, don’t be discouraged! There will be a brand new one tomorrow.
