For effortless access to our daily Connections hints, bookmark this page. Here you’ll also find past hints to catch up on any puzzles you may have missed.

Initially, some subtle hints for today’s Connections answers will be shared, with detailed themes and solutions available further down. Take your time scrolling, and only gather the clues you need!

Credit: Connections/NYT

Theme Hints for Today’s Connections Puzzle

Below are some hints for the categories in today’s Connections game that won’t spoil your surprise:

• Yellow category – They produce sounds.

• Green category – Small items, like souvenirs.

• Blue category – All start with the same three letters.

• Purple category – Two-letter abbreviations can be found here.

WARNING: Spoilers Ahead!

Next up are the answers to today’s puzzle. If you wish to avoid spoilers, scroll cautiously. (Solutions can be found a bit further down.)

Notes on the Challenging Terms

A THEREMIN is a unique musical instrument that is controlled by hand movements near antennas. (Technicalities aside, they are fascinating!)

TRIFLE typically describes a dessert, but in this instance, it refers to items deemed insignificant.

TUBERCULOSIS is commonly abbreviated to “TB.”

Categories in Today’s Connections

• Yellow: MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

• Green: KNICKKNACK

• Blue: TERMS WITH “THREE” PREFIX

• Purple: TERMS ABBREVIATED AS “T” + LETTER

Caution: The Answers are Below

Curious about the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? Here’s the rundown:

Yellow Group Words

Today’s yellow category is the most straightforward, themed around MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, with words including: TAMBOURINE, THEREMIN, TIMPANI, TROMBONE.

Green Group Words

The green grouping, deemed the second-easiest, revolves around KNICKKNACK, which includes: TCHOTCHKE, THINGAMAJIG, TRIFLE, TRINKET.

Blue Group Words

The blue grouping is more complex, themed around TERMS WITH A PREFIX MEANING “THREE,” consisting of: TRIANGLE, TRIDENT, TRILLION, TRILOBITE.

Purple Group Words

Lastly, the purple category is the most challenging, featuring WORDS ABBREVIATED AS “T” + LETTER, which includes: TELEVISION, TOUCHDOWN, TRADEMARK, TUBERCULOSIS.

Playing Connections: A Quick Overview

For recommended insights into the game of Connections, please refer to this comprehensive guide, but here’s a brief recap of the rules:

Access the Connections game either on the New York Times website or via their Games app. The game board displays 16 tiles, each labeled with a word or phrase. Your goal is to identify four tiles that share a common theme. Frequently they represent a similar category of items (for instance, RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all forms of meteorological conditions), but wordplay may be involved as well.

Select a quartet of items and press the Submit button. If your guess is accurate, the category will be highlighted in color; yellow is the easiest, transitioning to green, then blue, and finally purple for the most difficult. Incorrect guesses allow you another attempt.

Victory occurs when you successfully identify all groups, but making four mistakes leads to an automatic end with answers displayed.

Winning Strategies for Connections

A critical insight to succeed in Connections is recognizing the tricky nature of the groupings. Overlapping categories are commonplace. An example involved breakfast foods like BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL, but BACON actually aligned with painters such as CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, while EGG coincided with items typically counted by dozens.

If you find yourself stuck, consider looking for words without apparent connections. If a term like WHISTLER evokes thoughts of the famous painting “Whistler’s Mother,” it might lead to your next deduction. Upon resolving, looking up seemingly disconnected names like Close could yield fruitful results.

When all else fails, gather helpful hints, which are provided daily here. Return tomorrow for another exciting puzzle!