Daily Hints for the Connections Puzzle

If you wish to easily return for hints for each day’s Connections challenge, consider bookmarking this page. This resource also contains past hints, so you can review any puzzles you might have missed.

Below are some indirect hints related to today’s Connections answers. For the complete themes and solutions, scroll further down the page, taking only the hints you require!

Credit: Connections/NYT

Clues for Today’s Connections Groupings

Here are some hints without spoilers for the categories featured in today’s puzzle:

• Yellow category – What you might exclaim after getting into a playful back-and-forth with a friend.

• Green category – A minimal amount, please.

• Blue category – They’re commonly found as garnishes on cocktails or as ingredients in martinis.

• Purple category – You’ve created a mess!

Warning: Spoilers Ahead for the Connections Puzzle!

You’re about to encounter some of the answers. Proceed with caution if you wish to avoid spoilers (the complete solutions are further down).

Insights on Some Tricky Words

The terms MITE and LOUSE should not be interpreted solely as small pests. MITE represents a measurement, while LOUSE functions as a verb.

BURN is something you might utter in reaction (though it feels a bit old-fashioned now).

Be mindful that ZEST and ZING do not belong together.

TWIST could refer to a request you make to a bartender for a martini enhancement.

The Categories of Today’s Connections Puzzle

• Yellow: COMMENT AFTER AN INSULT

• Green: TINY AMOUNT, WITH “A”

• Blue: BIT OF CITRUS GARNISH

• Purple: BUNGLE, WITH “UP”

Final Warning: Solutions Listed Below

Prepared to find out today’s Connections answers? They are detailed below.

Yellow Group Answers

The yellow grouping, generally perceived to be the most straightforward, consists of terms linked to COMMENT AFTER AN INSULT: BURN, OUCH, SNAP, ZING.

Green Group Answers

The green grouping is identified as the second-easiest, categorized as TINY AMOUNT, WITH “A”: BIT, LITTLE, MITE, TAD.

Blue Group Answers

For the blue grouping, considered to be the second most challenging, they fall under the BIT OF CITRUS GARNISH category: SLICE, TWIST, WEDGE, ZEST.

Purple Group Answers

The purple grouping, typically viewed as the most difficult, is categorized under BUNGLE, WITH “UP”: FOUL, LOUSE, MUCK, SCREW.

Strategies for Solving Today’s Connections

MITE can be positioned alongside LOUSE because they both relate to small size—but it could also pertain to BIT, LITTLE, and TAD, which all denote small quantities. This connection may be stronger.

Additionally, LOUSE can mean to mess something up, paralleling with MUCK, SCREW, and FOUL.

As for SLICE, WEDGE, TWIST, and ZEST, all relate to how citrus is prepared.

This leaves BURN, ZING, SNAP, and OUCH, exclamations you might express after a stinging remark. Although the puzzle initially appeared daunting due to the one-syllable words, it turned out to be manageable.

Connections
Puzzle #603
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Understanding How to Play Connections

A complete guide to playing Connections is available, but here is a brief overview of the gameplay:

To find the Connections game, visit either the New York Times website or their Games app. You will encounter a board featuring 16 tiles, each displaying a word or phrase. Your task is to identify a set of four tiles that share a common characteristic. Frequently, they will represent a similar category (for instance, RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW, which all define types of precipitation), while other times, wordplay may be involved (like BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH, which are all forms of lists: bucket list, guest list, etc.).

Select four items and click the Submit button. If your selection is correct, both the category and color will be displayed (Yellow is the simplest, followed by green, blue, then purple). If not, you can attempt again.

The game concludes when you successfully identify all four groups! However, if you make four incorrect attempts first, the game reveals the answers.

Winning at Connections

To succeed at Connections, remember that the groupings can be surprisingly tricky. Expect overlapping categories. For instance, one puzzle featured six breakfast items: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. Ultimately, BACON formed a group of painters with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, while EGG belonged to a collection of items typically found by the dozen (including JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). Therefore, do not hit “submit” until you have confirmed your set includes only those four items.

If you find yourself stuck, examining words that seem disconnected from others can be useful. For instance, if WHISTLER reminds you of the painting titled “Whistler’s Mother,” there may be a connection to discover. In such cases, further research can reveal unexpected themes.

When in doubt, seeking out helpful hints is a beneficial approach—this is precisely why daily tips are provided. Check back tomorrow for the next edition of the puzzle!