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Whoa, how about today's NYT Connections puzzle? Every once in a while, the puzzle editors decide to go all out and toss us an all-symbol grid, but usually the symbols are... somewhat recognizable? This one has a very distinct style, but it's also a real stumper. If you threw up your hands today and went hunting for the answers, I don't blame you one bit.

In a sense, it's easier than it looks, once you realize the icons are supposed to represent simple graphic versions of the clues. But that purple category especially gave me a headache. Read on for clues and today's Connections answers, complete with explanations.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today's Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Ante up!

Green group hint: Put it together.

Blue group hint: Strike!

Purple group hint: Wave it high.

Answers for today's Connections groups

Yellow group: Found in a casino.

Green group: Ways to fasten things.

Blue group: Seen in a bowling alley.

Purple group: Flag designs.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

Explanation of the symbols

If you're like me, you just want to know what those symbols are! Here's an easier way to see what all the symbols mean.

Top row, left to right: Horizontal trisection, zipper, dice, scorecard.

Second row, left to right: Slot machine, button, bowling ball, circle.

Third row, left to right: Bowling pins, vertical trisection, cards, laces.

Fourth row, left to right: Buckle, chips, horizontal bisection, lane.

What are today's Connections answers?

The yellow words in today's Connections

The theme is found in a casino. The four answers are cards, chips, dice and slot machine.

Explanation of answer: It's kind of tough to tell which is which, but I think the cards are three rows over and three down (looks like a spread-out hand of playing cards).

The chips are two spaces over to the right on the bottom row (looks like stacked chips).

The dice are three over to the right on the top row, showing two ones (snake eyes!).

And the slot machine is the second one down on the first row (you can see three symbols showing up, plus the lever).

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is ways to fasten things. The four answers are buckle, button, laces and zipper.

Explanation of answer: Looks to me like the buckle is the first design on the bottom horizontal row.

Then, the button is the round circle with four holes in it (very similar to the bowling ball next to it).

The laces icon is four over and then one up from the bottom (looks kind of like two pairs of laced eyelets in a shoe).

And the zipper is two over to the right on the top row, where you can kind of picture it as zipper teeth.

The blue words in today's Connections

The theme is seen in a bowling alley. The four answers are bowling ball, bowling pins, lane and scorecard.

Explanation of answer: This was my favorite one! The bowling ball is three over and two down, the circle with three holes in it (confusing since it's right next to the button).

The bowling pins are three down on the far-left row (10 little circles arranged in a triangle).

The lane is the far-right icon on the bottom row (double lines indicate the gutter).

And the scorecard is the far-right image in the top row, which shows the scorecard itself, the mark for a gutterball or miss, and the slash for a spare.

The purple words in today's Connections

The theme is flag designs. How did anyone get this without solving the rest of the puzzle?! The four answers are circle, horizontal bisection, horizontal trisection and vertical trisection.

Explanation of answer: Circle is the circle, duh, located at the far right in the second row down. (It appears on the Japanese flag, for one.)

Horizontal bisection is the bottom row, three columns over (the Polish flag is one of many that uses that design, with different colors above and below the line). 

Horizontal trisection is the far-right icon on the top row, as appears on numerous flags, such as Germany's black-red-gold design. 

And the vertical trisection icon is two over from the left and three down (easily confused with the bowling alley lane). Ireland and France are among the flags with vertical trisections. (The three divided sections don't seem equal in the NYT puzzle, though.)

Toughest Connections puzzles

We've made a note of some of the toughest Connections puzzles so far. (This one might make the list!) Maybe they'll help you see patterns in future puzzles.

#5: Included "things you can set," such as mood, record, table and volleyball.

#4: Included "one in a dozen," such as egg, juror, month and rose.

#3: Included "streets on screen," such as Elm, Fear, Jump and Sesame.

#2: Included "power ___" such as nap, plant, Ranger and trip.

#1: Included "things that can run," such as candidate, faucet, mascara and nose.