Unraveling The Fun Of Connections: Your Daily Word Puzzle Challenge!

A new day means a new Connections puzzle, and if you’re stuck, Newsweek is here to help. This engaging word game was launched by The New York Times on June 12, 2023, quickly becoming a favorite among puzzle enthusiasts. With its unique format and challenging gameplay, it has earned its place as the newspaper's second most-played word puzzle, right behind the beloved Wordle.

Earlier this year, Wyna Liu, the developer of Connections and a seasoned crossword editor, shared her thoughts with Newsweek about the game's growing global popularity. She expressed, "The response has been really incredible and overwhelming, and unexpected. It's exciting that something I care very deeply about is resonating with people."

For those new to the game, the mechanics of Connections are straightforward yet captivating. Players are presented with a grid of 16 words, which they must categorize into four groups of four based on shared characteristics. With varying difficulty levels indicated by color, this game challenges players to think critically and creatively.

How to Play Connections

If you’ve never played Connections before, it’s easy to get the hang of! Players are given a set of 16 words arranged in a grid format—four across and four down. The objective is to categorize these words into four groups of four based on specific characteristics. The categories range from easy, represented by yellow, to the most challenging, marked by purple. Green and blue indicate medium difficulty levels.

For instance, in Monday's puzzle, one of the categories was "Spiky things," which included words like "cactus," "hedgehog," "mace," and "pineapple." This particular category was categorized as green, indicating a moderate level of difficulty.

When players successfully group a category, the words will flash in the assigned difficulty color and disappear from the grid. However, if a player makes an incorrect guess, those words will turn gray and remain on the board. This adds a layer of strategy as players must think carefully about their guesses.

Although players have only four guesses to solve the grid, they are not timed, allowing them to take their time and enjoy the challenge. If players find themselves stuck, they can always hit the "Shuffle" button to refresh their memory and spark new ideas.

'Connections' #464 Clues for Tuesday, September 17

Newsweek has provided some hints to help players with today’s Connections game. Here are the categories to consider:

• Yellow: Words associated with passion + "up"
• Green: Types of footwear
• Blue: Government jobs
• Purple: Words pronounced the same but have different meanings

'Connections' #464 Answers for Tuesday, September 17

Here are the answers for today’s Connections puzzle:

Were you able to solve today’s puzzle? If not, don’t stress! A new Connections game will be available on Wednesday.

Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone, and Newsweek will return with more helpful clues and answers. In the meantime, why not try these other word puzzles, like Wordscapes and Lexigo?