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...

• MASS
• TRAVEL
• CHANNEL
• LINE
• VOLUME
• DROVE
• CAR WINDOW
• FLY
• PACK
• CARRY
• NET
• GOALTEND
• ELEVATOR
• HOST
• DOUBLE-DRIBBLE
• HOOK

NYT Connections Hints

And the hints for today’s Connections groups are:

• 🟨 Yellow group — essentials if one is to land the catch of the day
• 🟩 Green group — a whole lot
• 🟦 Blue group — ways to break rules in the paint in MSG and TD Garden
• 🟪 Purple group — like Debbie Harry once sang, these go one way or another

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 — LINE
• 🟩 Green group — MASS
• 🟦 Blue group — TRAVEL
• 🟪 Purple group — CAR WINDOW

NYT Connections Hints – Groups/Categories

Today’s Connections groups are...

• 🟨 Yellow group — fishing gear
• 🟩 Green group — multitude
• 🟦 Blue group — commit a basketball infraction
• 🟪 Purple group — controlled with up/down buttons

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...

I got the yellows right away. Didn't hurt that we had a similar theme in Strands recently.

DOUBLE-DRIBBLE, GOALTEND and TRAVEL then helped me figure out the blues, even though my basketball knowledge is iffy. Took me a minute to realize CARRY was the fourth word.

DROVE, MASS and PACK then led me into the greens. VOLUME didn't quite fit with those. That left the purples, and I was able to figure out the category before sending those through. Fun group.

I love having a balance of more offbeat games like yesterday's and relatively straightforward ones like this. My streak is now at 431 wins in a row.

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

🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪

Sorry, gang, no time for an Answers Explained column today! (I wager it’s only the blues that really need much explaining this time anyway.)

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 Friday’s game if you need them.

P.S. As tempted as I am to recommend “Elevator Operator” by Electric Callboy given today’s purples (and because I am extremely excited about seeing them live again soon), I have used that song in the past so I shall refrain.

Instead, their Coachella set and return to touring inspired me to offer up my favorite song by The Strokes. I remember listening to “Heart In A Cage” a ton on my iPod way back when. This song is absolutely rad. Please note that there are swears in this one and they start pretty early:

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.