Mastering The Game: Your Guide To 'Connections' From Newsweek

If you’re struggling with today’s Connections, Newsweek is here to take out some of the guesswork. The puzzle has built a large fan base since it was released on June 12, 2023, and is now coming up to its first full year since it went public. Connections is so popular that it is now The New York Times’ second-most-played game after Wordle. Instructions on how to play the game are below. If you want to solve the puzzle yourself, be careful when scrolling, as the answers for today's puzzle are toward the end of the article.

Understanding the Game Mechanics

The brainteaser tasks players with grouping 16 words into four categories based on association. For example, Tuesday's game linked the words "clear," "earn," "make," and "net," which all came under the category "take home, as income." Each of the four categories is labeled with a color, which also signifies their difficulty level. Yellow is the easiest category, followed by green, blue, and purple. However, the puzzles are rarely straightforward, using homophones and wordplay, among other techniques, to keep things interesting.

The uniting themes span a wide range of topics, and once you've figured out one group, those words are removed from the grid. However, players get only four guesses. Each incorrect guess adds to your mistake tally, and after four wrong answers, it’s game over. This adds a thrilling challenge to the game and encourages players to think critically about their choices.

Gameplay Features and Strategies

Connections also has a shuffle button, which will mix up where the words appear on the screen to help players who might be stuck. Explaining why the game has four difficulty levels, NYT puzzle editor Wyna Liu said she toyed with different ways to make the game challenging. "There would have to be a mix of categories for the game to feel challenging and satisfying," she said. Some categories might be defined by their use of wordplay—palindromes, homophones, adding or dropping letters and words—rather than the literal meanings of the words on the cards.

However, the familiarity of the words used, and how often they pop up in modern life, are also difficulty factors. Less-common words aren’t only used in the harder categories. "Item overlap," where one word can be linked to multiple categories, is another way Connections tests players. Caution was needed when including items that might stand out in the grid, since they would invite immediate scrutiny.

Key Clues for Today's Puzzle

Newsweek has some hints to help you figure out today’s Connections categories. Here are the clues:

• Yellow: Often used when something is considered "cool."
• Green: Words to describe different things from the same category.
• Blue: Understanding the meaning of something.
• Purple: Fried food.

Answers for Today's Puzzle

Yellow Category: "AWESOME!"

• Yellow Words: Cool, Nice, Sick, Sweet.

Green Category: VARIETY

• Green Words: Kind, Sort, Style, Type.

Blue Category: GIST

• Blue Words: Drift, Idea, Message, Point.

Purple Category: FRIED APPETIZER, INFORMALLY

• Purple Words: Ring, Stick, Tender, Wing.

Did you guess the answers correctly? If so, congratulations! If not, don’t worry; there will be another opportunity to crack the puzzle tomorrow. Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone. Newsweek will be back with another round of hints and tips for each new game. If you’re looking for another word-based game to play in the meantime, why not give Wordle a try?