NYT Connections – How To Play

Connections is a free New York Times daily word game that you can play on the NYT’s website or Games app. If you have an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the Connections archive, which includes every previous game.

Connections presents you with a grid of 16 words (sometimes phrases, symbols or numbers). The aim is to arrange them into four groups of four. You don’t know how they hit together or what the category for each group is: that’s what you have to figure out.

There’s only one correct solution and there are often red herrings. You can guess incorrectly three times. A fourth wrong guess, and it’s game over.

Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to deduce, followed by blue, green and purple. Often, the yellow and green groups have synonyms, the blues have cultural references and the purples have some kind of wordplay involved. But this is not a hard and fast rule. Be ready for curveballs – part of the fun of Connections is in how the NYT shakes things up to keep you on your toes.

As with Wordle and similar games, it’s easy to share results with your friends using an emoji-based grid. The game tracks your progress too.

Many players take pride in having long win streaks or getting a reverse rainbow – correctly guessing the purple, blue, green and yellow groups in that order with no mistakes. That adds an extra little challenge.

NYT Connections Hints – Today’s Word List

Scroll slowly! I’ll first give you a list of today’s words, then a hint for each category. After that, I’ll reveal one word that goes into each group. Then I’ll tell you the category names, followed by the full answers.

Today’s 16 words are...

• RADIOACTIVE MAN
• RAGING BULL
• RED ONION
• REGINA KING
• RESERVOIR DOGS
• REVEREND LOVEJOY
• ROMAN HOLIDAY
• ROASTED CHICKEN
• ROE BUCK
• REAR WINDOW
• ROMAINE LETTUCE
• ROD FLANDERS
• RAIN MAN
• ROTARY CLIPPER
• RALPH WIGGUM
• RANCH DRESSING

NYT Connections Hints

And the hints for today’s Connections groups are:

• 🟨 Yellow group — put 'em together for a (mostly) healthy lunch
• 🟩 Green group — celluloid staples
• 🟦 Blue group — yellow, but not necessarily cowards
• 🟪 Purple group — one of five who deal with boards, dimes and buckets

NYT Connections Hints – One Answer Per Group

Need some extra help?

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one answer for each group.

Here we go…

• 🟨 Yellow group — ROASTED CHICKEN
• 🟩 Green group — REAR WINDOW
• 🟦 Blue group — RADIOACTIVE MAN
• 🟪 Purple group — ROE BUCK

NYT Connections Hints – Groups/Categories

Today’s Connections groups are...

• 🟨 Yellow group — salad ingredients
• 🟩 Green group — classic films
• 🟦 Blue group — The Simpsons characters
• 🟪 Purple group — ending in NBA players

NYT Connections Answers

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your last chance to look away.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

• 🟨 Yellow group — salad ingredients (RANCH DRESSING, RED ONION, ROASTED CHICKEN, ROMAINE LETTUCE)
• 🟩 Green group — classic films (RAIN MAN, REAR WINDOW, RESERVOIR DOGS, ROMAN HOLIDAY)
• 🟦 Blue group — The Simpsons characters (RADIOACTIVE MAN, RALPH WIGGUM, REVEREND LOVEJOY, ROD FLANDERS)
• 🟪 Purple group — ending in NBA players (RAGING BULL, REGINA KING, ROE BUCK, ROTARY CLIPPER)

I got the characters from The Simpsons immediately. The yellows were up next.

I didn’t know what a ROE BUCK was, other than the name of the barber shop in my hometown that I used to go to, but I figured that had to be a purple since there were so many classic movies in the mix.

It was one of those days that had a group with five viable options, given that RAGING BULL is a classic film as well. Luckily, some trial and error meant that I found the correct combo of the greens with one guess remaining. That left the purples, and I did figure out the category before submitting those.

Lots of pop culture references today, with every phrase starting with "R." Fun one! I'm very happy to have escaped with my streak intact. It now sits at 422 wins in a row, though I would have been okay with losing it here.

How did you get on today? Here's my grid:

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🟪🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟩🟪🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Want to know more about how everything fits together? Let’s explore today’s game in more depth in my NYT Connections Answers Explained column right here:

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to check my blog tomorrow for hints and the solution for Tuesday’s game if you need them.

P.S. I didn’t know about this artist until I was looking through some Coachella highlights last week, but I’m happy to have learned about her. I enjoy listening to hyperpop EDM from time to time and “iPod Touch” by Ninajirachi is going on my playlist. It doesn’t hurt that the lyrics are sweetly nostalgic:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Please follow my blog for more NYT Connections hints and help with other word games, and even some video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me out a lot! Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. You can also read my weekend editions of this column at my newsletter, Pastimes.