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Next, I will provide you with some indirect hints related to today’s Connections answers. Further down, all themes and solutions will be disclosed. Take your time as you scroll and only take the hints that you find most useful!

Credit: Connections/NYT

Hints for Today’s Connections Puzzle Themes

Here are spoiler-free insights into the group classifications for today’s Connections puzzle:

• Yellow category – Are you alright, friend?

• Green category – They all belong to the same species.

• Blue category – Divisions of popular culture.

• Purple category – They each follow the same alphabetical sequence.

CLAIMER: Spoilers Ahead for Today’s Connections Puzzle!

Answers will soon be revealed. Scroll cautiously if you wish to avoid spoilers. (The complete answers follow below.)

Insights about Challenging Elements

Note that GRIFFIN references a surname rather than the fantastical creature.

Add a letter to the front of SWISS to reveal a sneaker brand.

BLUE can also represent a feeling of melancholy.

Categories in Today’s Connections

• Yellow: DEJECTED

• Green: BIRDS THAT ARE VERBS

• Blue: TV COMEDY FAMILIES

• Purple: WORDS FOLLOWING “K”

WARNING: The Answers are Listed Below

Ready to uncover the answers for today’s puzzle? They’re provided below.

Yellow Group Words

The yellow category is deemed the most accessible. Today’s yellow group encompasses DEJECTED and includes: BLUE, DOWN, HANGDOG, SORRY.

Green Group Words

The green category is reasonably easy. Today’s theme is BIRDS THAT ARE VERBS, featuring: DUCK, GROUSE, HAWK, SWALLOW.

Blue Group Words

The blue grouping presents moderate difficulty. This category focuses on TV COMEDY FAMILIES with: GRIFFIN, MUNSTER, PARTRIDGE, PICKLES.

Purple Group Words

The purple group is regarded as the most challenging. Its theme, WORDS FOLLOWING “K,” includes: MART, POP, STREET, SWISS.

Solving Today’s Connections

At first glance, the last names of sitcom families come into play: GRIFFIN (from Family Guy), PICKLES (from Rugrats), MUNSTER (from The Munsters), and PARTRIDGE (from The Partridge Family).

Next, I spot the birds: HAWK, SWALLOW, GROUSE, and DUCK.

Meanwhile, SORRY, DOWN, BLUE, and HANGDOG denote feelings of gloominess.

This leaves SWISS, POP, STREET, and MART. Initially weighing options like cheese or music genres seemed vague. However, the connection became clearer: K-Swiss is a shoe brand, K-pop is a music genre, and Kmart is a retail chain—K Street is a notable roadway in Washington, D.C.

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Understanding Connections Gameplay

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

Find the Connections game on the New York Times website or available through their Games app. You’re presented with a board containing 16 tiles, each with a corresponding word or phrase. The aim is to identify a set of four tiles with a shared characteristic—these can be similar types of items (e.g., RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, SNOW are all forms of precipitation) or involve wordplay (e.g., BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, WISH are types of lists).

Select four items and click Submit. If chosen correctly, the category and color will be displayed (yellow is the easiest, followed by green, blue, and finally purple). Incorrect selections give you another opportunity to attempt.

Victory arises when all four groups are correctly identified. However, if four incorrect guesses are made before completion, the game concludes with the answers revealed.

Strategies for Winning Connections

The key to succeeding in Connections is recognizing that the groupings can be deceptively intricate. Expect to see overlapping groups. In one challenge, several breakfast foods appeared: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. Yet, BACON was part of a group of famous painters alongside CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, while EGG belonged to a category of entities arriving by the dozen (alongside JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). Proceed with caution before submitting, ensuring your selected four consist solely of those four options.

If confusion arises, consider focusing on those words with seemingly no connection to others. For example, if WHISTLER reminds you of the painting titled “Whistler’s Mother,” you could be close to identifying a theme. Additional research often uncovers interconnections, and in this case, I investigated the artist named Close, as they didn’t align with any evident themes either.

Sometimes the simplest solution is to look for helpful hints—this is precisely the reason why daily pointers are provided. Be sure to return for tomorrow’s puzzle!