Unlocking Word Connections: The Rise Of The New York Times' New Game

Connections might only have been launched in June 2023 but it quickly became a huge success. The game is already The New York Times' second-most popular game after the incredibly successful Wordle. While similarly word-based, Connections challenges players to uncover threads connecting a series of words. The answers for today's puzzle will be revealed at the end of this article, so take care when scrolling if you want to work it out yourself.

How To Play Connections

Part of Connections' appeal is the fact that it is easy to play. Each puzzle consists of 16 words, separated into four categories. Players must identify the common thread between each category and select four groups of four words without making more than four mistakes. For example, a previous category described different elements of a vinyl: insert, jacket, record, and sleeve.

Each category is labeled with a color, which also signifies their difficulty level. Yellow is the most straightforward category, followed by green, blue, and purple. This color-coding helps players gauge how tricky the words in each category might be.

Players can sometimes be fooled by the fact that words can often fit into two categories, adding a layer of difficulty to the daily brainteaser. However, each group must consist of four unique words, with no repeats whatsoever. The challenge increases according to color, with yellow being the most straightforward, while purple is the hardest.

Man holding a mobile phone — Cheerful middle-aged man sitting on sofa with modern mobile phone at home. "Connections" is The New York Times' second-most-played game after "Wordle." Getty/Prostock-Studio

The game's editor, Wyna Liu of The New York Times, mentioned that there are varying levels of difficulty among the categories provided each day. "Some categories might be defined by their use of wordplay—palindromes, homophones, adding or dropping letters and words—rather than the literal meanings of the words on the cards," she explained. "I saw three areas of potential difficulty that could be adjusted: the familiarity of the words, the ambiguity of their categorization, and the variety of the wordplay."