Yellow Words in Today’s Connections

The yellow grouping is quite straightforward. The theme revolves around SHADES OF RED, encompassing: BRICK, CHERRY, MAROON, RUBY.

Green Words in Today’s Connections

The green category is second in terms of ease. The focus here is APPOINTMENT SPECIFICATIONS, including: DATE, DURATION, LOCATION, TIME.

Blue Words in Today’s Connections

The blue category presents more of a challenge. The theme is VARIED AMOUNTS OF HAIR, featuring: HEAD, LOCK, STRAND, WISP.

Purple Words in Today’s Connections

The hardest set belongs to the purple category. Their theme relates to TREE HOMOPHONES, with the words: BEACH, FUR, PAIR, YOU.

Resolving Today’s Connections

Identifying CHERRY, MAROON, BRICK, and RUBY clearly points to shades of red. 🟨

Noticing terms associated with hair such as FUR, STRAND, HEAD, LOCK, and WISP aligns those neatly. 

Additionally, there appears to be a homophone theme: FUR (fir), BEACH (beech), YOU (yew), and PAIR (pear). 🟪

Then STRAND, HEAD, LOCK, and WISP match well within the hair context. 🟦

This leads to DURATION, TIME, LOCATION, and DATE—a cohesive set under time and space metrics? It encapsulates APPOINTMENT SPECIFICATIONS. 🟩

Connections
Puzzle #567
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Guide to Playing Connections

A comprehensive guide to Connections is available, but here is a brief overview of the rules:

Start by accessing the Connections game either on the New York Times website or through their Games app (formerly the Crossword app). You will encounter a game board containing 16 tiles, each showcasing a word or phrase. The objective is to select a group of four tiles that share a commonality. Often, they belong to the same category (e.g., RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are types of precipitation), but some involve wordplay (like BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH, representing types of lists: bucket list, guest list, etc.).

Choose four items and press the Submit button. Correct guesses will reveal the category and color. (The color ranking is yellow as the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple.) In the event of an incorrect guess, a chance to retry is offered.

Victory is achieved once all four groups are correctly identified. Keep in mind that if four mistakes occur before completion, the game ends and solutions are displayed.

Winning Strategies for Connections

Understanding that groupings are crafted to be deceptive is crucial for success. Anticipate overlapping groups. For instance, one past puzzle included various breakfast items: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. However, BACON belonged to a group of painters alongside CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, while EGG was part of a grouping associated with a dozen, alongside JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH. Therefore, avoid hitting “submit” until you ensure that your group consists solely of those four words.

If uncertainty arises, examining words that seem unrelated to the others can be helpful. For example, if WHISTLER brings to mind the painting known as “Whistler’s Mother,” it could be a clue. Often, when encountering such puzzles, investigating unfamiliar terms can lead to breakthroughs.

Reading helpful hints is also a valid tactic for overcoming challenges—which is why these pointers are shared every day. Return tomorrow for the next puzzle!