If you want to easily revisit our daily hints, bookmark this page for future reference. You can also explore hints from previous puzzles in case you’re curious about what you might have missed.

Here, you’ll find subtle clues leading to today’s Connections answers, with the complete themes and solutions located further down. Scroll carefully and take only the hints you are ready for!

Source: Connections/NYT

Hints for Today’s Connections Themes

Here are some clues for the group categories without revealing too much:

• Yellow category – The remedy for when you feel overwhelmed.

• Green category – Types of navigation that get you to the top of a hill.

• Blue category – Outcomes you might encounter after rolling a bowling ball.

• Purple category – A phrase completion involving a general type of underwater creature.

Caution: Spoilers Ahead!

This section will reveal some answers. Proceed with care if you prefer to avoid spoilers. (The complete solutions follow further down.)

Insights on the Challenging Words

While it may not seem obvious, numerous types of fish appear on the board.

A STRIKE refers to the bowling achievement of knocking down all pins.

SNAKE can also function as a verb.

Categories in Today’s Puzzle

• Yellow: TIME OFF

• Green: FOLLOW A MEANDERING COURSE

• Blue: BOWLING RESULTS

• Purple: ___ FISH

Important: The Solution is Below

If you’re eager to discover the answers to today’s Connections puzzle, they are revealed below.

Yellow Category Answers

The yellow category is often the simplest. Today’s theme is TIME OFF, including the words: BREAK, LEAVE, REST, VACATION.

Green Category Answers

The green category is generally the second easiest. The theme here is FOLLOW A MEANDERING COURSE with the words: CURVE, SNAKE, WEAVE, WIND.

Blue Category Answers

The blue category is the next level of difficulty. The theme relates to BOWLING RESULTS with the words: DOUBLE, SPARE, STRIKE, TURKEY.

Purple Category Answers

The purple category presents the highest challenge. This category centers on ___ FISH, featuring the words: BLOW, CAT, GOLD, SWORD.

Tips for Solving Today’s Puzzle

As for the connections, the clue “WIND” can indicate a verb describing a tight turn, which fits well with SNAKE, WEAVE, and CURVE.

Additionally, STRIKE and SPARE are commonly recognized bowling terms, and TURKEY likely fits this context as well. Nice!

Finally, the remaining terms—CAT, SWORD, BLOW, GOLD—can be categorized by their associations: such as CAT and dog, SWORD and shield, and GOLD and silver, connecting them through the theme of ___ FISH: catfish, swordfish, blowfish, goldfish.

Connections
Puzzle #617

Understanding How to Play Connections

A comprehensive guide to the gameplay is available, but here’s a quick overview:

First, access the Connections game through the New York Times website or via their Games app (which was formerly known as the Crossword app). The game board displays 16 tiles, each featuring a word or phrase. Your task is to select a set of four tiles that share a common theme. Frequently, these words will fall into similar categories (e.g., RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all precipitation types), but occasionally, clever wordplay is at play (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH represent forms of lists: bucket list, guest list, etc.).

Select your four tiles and click Submit. A correct guess will reveal the respective category and color associated with it (yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, then purple). If the guess is incorrect, you have another chance to try.

The game concludes when all four groups are successfully identified. However, should you make four mistakes without finishing, the game will end and the solutions will be shown.

Winning Strategies for Connections

To succeed at Connections, it’s vital to recognize that the groupings are intentionally designed to be challenging. Overlapping themes are common. For instance, one puzzle might include breakfast-related items: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL, but BCM might very well belong to a category of artists alongside CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, while EGG could fit into things typically found in dozens (including JUROR, ROSE, or MONTH). Therefore, verify that your selected group indeed contains only those four specific words before finalizing your guess.

If you find yourself at an impasse, consider examining words that seem completely unrelated to the others. When attempting one solution, focusing on WHISTLER, which reminded someone of the artwork named “Whistler’s Mother,” was a clue that ultimately led to a breakthrough. Research can yield fruitful results.

Another effective way to gain success when stuck is to follow helpful prompts—hence the daily advice provided here. Remember to check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!