For those who want easy access to daily hints for the Connections game, bookmark this page. This resource also archives previous hints, which might help you revisit any puzzles you found challenging.

Presented below are subtle hints for today’s Connections categories. Additional details and answers can be found further down, so proceed at your own pace and take only the clues you require!

Credit: Connections/NYT

Clues for Today’s Categories in Connections

Below are some hints without spoilers for the groupings present in today’s puzzle:

• Yellow category – Terms associated with images of baseball stars like Aaron Judge or Juan Soto.

• Green category – Actions related to fabric manipulation.

• Blue category – Expressions relating to time-based meetings.

• Purple category – Complete the phrase with an edible term.

WARNING: Spoilers Await!

The upcoming section contains answers. Proceed with caution if you’re not ready for the complete revelations. The full solutions follow shortly.

A Heads-Up About Challenging Aspects

Note that STAT does not correlate with NOW or FAST as it stands for “statistic.”

Furthermore, FAST and SOON do not belong together.

Add a word to SOUL for describing Southern-style dishes like cornbread.

PUCKER can describe how poorly fitting clothing appears.

Categories for Today’s Connections

• Yellow: BASEBALL CARD INFORMATION

• Green: FABRIC MANIPULATION

• Blue: TIME-RELATED ADVERBS

• Purple: ___ DISHES

DOUBLE WARNING: SOLUTIONS ARE BELOW

Ready to uncover the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? They are disclosed as follows.

Yellow Words in Today’s Connections

The yellow category consists of the most straightforward terms. The theme for this group is BASEBALL CARD INFORMATION, including: BIO, PLAYER, STAT, TEAM.

Green Words in Today’s Connections

The green category is said to be relatively simple. Its theme revolves around FABRIC MANIPULATION, encompassing: BUNCH, GATHER, PUCKER, RUFFLE.

Blue Words in Today’s Connections

The blue category presents a moderate challenge. Its theme relates to TIME-RELATED ADVERBS, represented by: LATER, NOW, SOON, THEN.

Purple Words in Today’s Connections

The purple category is regarded as the most difficult. The theme is ___ DISHES, with the words being: FAST, FINGER, JUNK, SOUL.

How to Approach Today’s Connections

A quick look reveals two identifiable categories. The first includes FAST, STAT, SOON, and NOW, which all pertain to urgency. Oh no, incorrect!

Then there’s BUNCH, GATHER, RUFFLE, and PUCKER, indicating fabric gathering. 🟩

TEAM and PLAYER seem like they fit together while NOW and THEN might also connect. What about BIO and STAT—they likely reference educational subjects: biology and statistics.

The adverbs THEN, NOW, LATER, and SOON also appear to share a common theme. 🟦

Using “spirit” might join TEAM spirit, spirit FINGER, and SOUL together. However, that doesn’t appear to align well.

These last eight words are quite a puzzle! There must be a connection I’ve overlooked.

Perhaps STAT, TEAM, BIO, and PLAYER all relate to a sports team identity? 🟨 BASEBALL CARD INFORMATION! Confirmation achieved.

This leaves the group of SOUL, JUNK, FAST, and FINGER. Uncertain here… 🟪 Oh, “___ DISHES.” A missed recognition—successful solving counts nonetheless.

Connections
Puzzle #608
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How to Engage with Connections

A comprehensive guide for playing Connections exists, but here’s a quick overview:

Begin by accessing the Connections game on either the New York Times website or via their Games app. You will encounter a board consisting of 16 tiles, each displaying a word or phrase. The objective is to find four tiles that share a common attribute. These could represent a similar classification (for instance, RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of precipitation) or involve clever wordplay (like BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH representing different kinds of lists: bucket list, guest list, etc.).

Select four items and press Submit. If correct, the related category and color will be displayed (yellow being the simplest, followed by green, then blue, and finally purple). An incorrect selection provides a chance to try again.

Victory is attained when all four categories are correctly identified. However, if four incorrect tries occur prior to completion, the game concludes, revealing the solutions.

Achieving Success in Connections

Winning Connections hinges on recognizing its intentionally perplexing groupings. Be prepared for overlapping themes. For example, one puzzle featured six breakfast items: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. However, BACON actually belonged to a set of artists along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, while EGG was grouped with items that come in dozens (like JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). Hence, avoid hitting “submit” without being absolutely sure that your selected four strictly comprise those four items.

When in doubt, another tactic is to identify words that seem disconnected from the others. For example, if WHISTLER reminds you only of the famous painting “Whistler’s Mother,” you’re on the right track. One puzzle led to the realization that CLOSE was another painter’s name worth researching, as it didn’t correlate with any apparent themes.

When stuck, reading some helpful hints is advisable—hence the daily sharing of these clues. Don’t forget to return for tomorrow’s challenging puzzle!