Connections is a game from the New York Times that challenges you to find the association between words. It sounds easy, but it isn’t—Connections categories can be almost anything, and they’re usually quite specific. If you need a hand getting the answers, we’ve got you covered.
What Is Connections?
Connections is a game from the New York Times. The objective is simple: sort 16 words into groups of 4. Each group of words will be connected by some common idea or theme. That common element could be anything. We have seen everything from games that rely on the number of letters in the words to categories that require you to spot an extra letter at the end of the word. Sometimes they’re references to economics, other times they reference fairy tales. There is no telling what sort of association there will be between words.
Once you’re confident you understand the connection, select 4 words, then hit “Submit.” You have only four attempts in total, so don’t be too guess-happy.
Hints for Today’s Connections Groups
Here are a few small hints for the 330th Connections game to get you started:
- Yellow: Fasten is another word that’d fit in.
- Green: Annoying.
- Blue: Ways to describe a number of items.
- Purple: Images you might find on special cards.
What Are Today’s Connections Groups?
If you still need help, the actual group names are:
- Yellow: Connect
- Green: Nuisance
- Blue: Quantity Words
- Purple: Tarot Cards, with “The”
Today’s NYT Connections Answers
Connect (Yellow):
Couple, Join, Link, Tie
Nuisance (Green):
Bother, Handful, Pain, Pest
Quantity Words (Blue):
Few, Many, Several, Some
Tarot Cards, with “The” (Purple):
Fool, Lover, Magician, Tower
How Did We Solve This Connections Game?
May 6th was a little tough.
The first group I spotted was Purple. I quickly saw fool, lovers, magician, and tower and thought they must be related to fantasy stories. In actuality, Purple was “Tarot Cards, with The.” It turns out my guess was largely just luck!
Join, link, couple, and tie all seemed pretty straight forward. They’re verbs that can mean “to attach,” though the specific connotations vary. The Yellow group was actually “Connect.” Close enough in my book.
Bother and pain immediately struck me as verbs, but that didn’t really go anywhere. Taking them as nouns, however, proved more fruitful. A bother and a pain are both nuisances. With “Nuisance” (the actual name of the Green group) in mind, handful and pest were pretty easy to pick out.
Blue was curiously difficult this time. It included the words few, many, several, and some—at first glance, this was confusing, since some of them were antonyms. It didn’t click until I was directly given the answer by the game: “Quantity Words.” In retrospect, the inclusion of the word “some” probably should have clued me in that the specific amount wasn’t important.
How Do You Guess Connections Groups?
There is no quick, reliable way to approach Connections like there is with Wordle, since Connections isn’t algorithmic. However, there are a few things to keep in mind that can help.
- Look for similar parts of speech. Are some words verbs and others nouns? Are some adjectives? Try mentally grouping them based on those categories and see if any other patterns jump out at you.
- Are the words synonyms? Sometimes categories will just be synonyms for a phrase, or very close to synonyms. Don’t rely too closely on this, though. Occasionally, Connections will deliberately throw in words that are sometimes synonyms to mislead you.
- Try saying the words. Sometimes, saying the words helps. One puzzle we saw included the words go, rate, faster, clip, pace, speed, move, commute, and hurry—all of which are obviously related to the idea of motion. However, when you say them, it becomes a little more obvious that only four (go, move, hurry, faster) are things you’d actually say to prompt someone to get moving.
- Expect the red herring. Connections usually has words that could be plausibly, yet incorrectly, grouped together. Take the words Bud, Corona, and Light, as an example. You might instinctively see those three words together and assume they’re lumped together in a category related to beer—but they weren’t.
- Look for distinct words. If a word on your board doesn’t have multiple meanings or can really only be used in one context, try using that word as the basis for a category.
- Shuffle the board. Sometimes, moving words around will help you look at them in new ways.
If you didn’t solve this one, don’t feel too bad—there’s always tomorrow! And those words may align with a topic you’re interested in, giving you a leg up on the competition.
