Jumbles and word searches are a great way to build your vocabulary, but for something a little different, NYT Connections offers one of the most entertaining daily word games. While playing NYT Connections, one needs to identify the obscured association between words and sort them into four groups. The free word puzzle was developed by the gaming division of The New York Times. For its beta test, it is available for PC since June 12, 2023. It is currently the second-most played game on NYT, after Wordle.
Looking for help with today's puzzle? Here are some useful hints and strategies to crack the game. Please scroll down carefully to avoid spoilers.
NYT Connections is a daily puzzle, requiring players to focus on vocabulary and word knowledge. There are three different difficulty levels available: Easy, Medium, and Hard. The game is not only pleasant but also mentally challenging and a way to enhance one's vocabulary. Social media loves this puzzle and is widely discussed on X (formerly Twitter), where players post about their successes as well as challenges.
Wyna Liu, the associate puzzle editor at The New York Times, invented the game of NYT Connections. In the puzzle, the player is provided with 16 random words and must classify them into four separate categories.
Yellow Category: Different varieties for casual to formal wear.
Green Category: Chewy treats that give your drink texture.
Blue Category: Variety of sea creatures without a backbone.
Purple Category: Popular types of pasta with unusual shapes.
Yellow: Types of Shirts – Flannel, Oxford, Polo, Tee
Green: Bubbles in Milk Tea – Boba, Bubble, Pearl, Tapioca
Blue: Sea Creatures, Informally – Coral, Jelly, Sponge, Star
Purple: Beginnings of Pasta Names – Fett, Penn, Torte, Zit
The game presents players with a 16-word grid, requiring them to find the hidden relationships among them. The latter might be synonymic, antonymic, familial, or any other kind of relation. The game can provide helpful hints if a player needs it. Additionally, users can follow their daily streaks and challenge friends or other users to prove who will solve the most puzzles.
The puzzle changes every day at midnight, and through either the NYT website or app, players can enjoy it. To solve the puzzle, group the words into four categories, keeping in mind possible wordplay, associations, or thematic links. Each group is color-coded with yellow the easiest category and purple the hardest, often, the hardest that features wordplay. Players can try various groupings to determine the relationships and provide their answers. A mistake results in the loss of a life, and if the player makes four incorrect guesses, the game is over.