Connections is a game from the New York Times that challenges you to find the association between words. It sounds easy, but it isn’t—Connections categories can be almost anything, and they’re usually quite specific. If you need a hand getting the answers, we’ve got you covered.
What Is Connections?
Connections is a game from the New York Times. The objective is simple: sort 16 words into groups of 4. Each group of words will be connected by some common idea or theme. That common element could be anything. We have seen everything from games that rely on the number of letters in the words to categories that require you to spot an extra letter at the end of the word. Sometimes they’re references to economics, other times they reference fairy tales. There is no telling what sort of association there will be between words.
Once you’re confident you understand the connection, select 4 words, then hit “Submit.” You have only four attempts in total, so don’t be too guess-happy.
Hints for Today’s Connections Groups
Here are a few hints for the 436th Connections game to get you started:
- Yellow: Moving air.
- Green: When something spins about an axis.
- Blue: Originally related to the constellations.
- Purple: Book characters you learn as a child.
If you still need help, the actual group names are:
- Yellow: Rush of Wind
- Green: Rotate
- Blue: Zodiac Symbols
- Purple: Dr. Seuss Title Figures
Today’s NYT Connections Answers
Rush of Wind (Yellow):
Blow, Draft, Gust, Puff
Rotate (Green):
Crank, Reel, Turn, Wind
Zodiac Symbols (Blue):
Bull, Crab, Lion, Ram
Dr. Seuss Title Figures (Purple):
Cat, Grinch, Pop, Turtle
How Did We Solve This Connections Game?
August 20th’s game was tough, mostly due to Purple, as is often the case.
The first word I started with was turn, which got me thinking about rotation. Looking for other rotation-related words led me to crank, reel, and wind. Together, those 4 words were in the Green group, which was “Rotate.”
Gust tipped me off that we were probably talking about wind, so I looked for other words related to wind. Blow, gust, and puff seemed like reasonable choices, though they all describe very different kinds of wind—gust evokes thoughts of tornadoes and hurricanes, while puff makes me think of tiny little amounts of air barely moving grass. Yellow was “Rush of Wind.”
Unfortunately, there were 6 animals all on the board: cat, crab, bull, lion, ram, and turtle. After looking at it for a while, I figured that Grinch was almost certainly Dr. Seuss related, which meant that cat likely was, too. However, I really didn’t know enough about Dr. Seuss to narrow it down further. Eventually, a bit of guessing led me to bull, crab, lion, and ram in the Blue group, “Zodiac Symbols.”
I knew Purple was related to Dr. Seuss characters, but if I’d been forced to identify Pop and Turtle without eliminating every other option first, I would have been in real trouble. Cat, Grimch, Pop, and Turtle were in the Purple group, “Dr. Seuss Title Figures.”
How Do You Guess Connections Groups?
There is no quick, reliable way to approach Connections like there is with Wordle, since Connections isn’t algorithmic. However, there are a few things to keep in mind that can help.
- Look for similar parts of speech. Are some words verbs and others nouns? Are some adjectives? Try mentally grouping them based on those categories and see if any other patterns jump out at you.
- Are the words synonyms? Sometimes categories will just be synonyms for a phrase, or very close to synonyms. Don’t rely too closely on this, though. Occasionally, Connections will deliberately throw in words that are sometimes synonyms to mislead you.
- Try saying the words. Sometimes, saying the words helps. One puzzle we saw included the words go, rate, faster, clip, pace, speed, move, commute, and hurry—all of which are obviously related to the idea of motion. However, when you say them, it becomes a little more obvious that only four (go, move, hurry, faster) are things you’d actually say to prompt someone to get moving.
- Expect the red herring. Connections usually has words that could be plausibly, yet incorrectly, grouped together. Take the words Bud, Corona, and Light, as an example. You might instinctively see those three words together and assume they’re lumped together in a category related to beer—but they weren’t.
- Look for distinct words. If a word on your board doesn’t have multiple meanings or can really only be used in one context, try using that word as the basis for a category.
- Shuffle the board. Sometimes, moving words around will help you look at them in new ways.
If you didn’t solve this one, don’t feel too bad—there’s always tomorrow! And those words may align with a topic you’re interested in, giving you a leg up on the competition.
