Discover The Exciting World Of Connections: The Game That's Captivating Players Everywhere!

Connections has rapidly become a favorite on the internet since it was unveiled to the public a little over a year ago. The brainteaser was launched by The New York Times in June of last year and has gone on to become the newspaper's second-most-played game behind Wordle, another popular word-based puzzle. If you have never played before, Connections challenges players to uncover threads connecting a series of words. Instructions on how to play the game are below. Clues and the answers for today's puzzle are toward the end of the article.

How To Play 'Connections'

Connections tasks players with grouping 16 words into four categories based on association. For example, the July 11 game linked the words "Pen," "Ruler," "Scissors," and "Tape" under the category "School Supplies." Each of the four categories is labeled with a color, which also signifies their difficulty level. Yellow is the easiest category, followed by green, blue, and purple. However, the puzzles are rarely straightforward, using homophones and wordplay, among other techniques, to keep players challenged.

The familiarity of the words used, and how often they pop up in modern life, are also difficulty factors, although less-common words aren't only used in the harder categories. "Item overlap," where one word can be linked to multiple categories, is another way Connections tests players. If stuck, players can hit the shuffle button, which will mix up where the words appear on the screen.

Wyna Liu, a crossword editor at the Times who was asked to develop Connections, recently told Newsweek about her recommended tips for playing the game. "My best piece of advice is to wait as long as you can before guessing," Liu said. "You may see the board and have completely identified the category, seeing five words that could belong in that category," she added. "Don't try to guess the four words in that category because, even though you know what the fifth member is, you won't know which of the four it might not be," which would ultimately waste a turn. "Don't do what I do, which is 'rage solve,'" Liu said.

The answers for today's Connections puzzle will be revealed at the end of this article, so scroll with caution if you want to work them out yourself.

'Connections' #397 Clues for Friday, July 12

Newsweek has some hints to help you figure out today's Connections categories.

• Yellow: These words are associated with rooms you may go to at school.
• Green: Each of these answers is associated with a popular gambling game.
• Blue: For these answers, think of a bird often depicted in symbolic fashion.
• Purple: These words precede the name of a waterfowl to make phrases and names.

'Connections' #397 Answers for Friday, July 12

Yellow Category: SCHOOL FACILITIES

• Yellow Words: Auditorium, Gym, Lab, Library

Green Category: ROULETTE BETS

• Green Words: Black, Even, Odd, Red

Blue Category: ASSOCIATED WITH 'DOVE'

• Blue Words: Chocolate, Peace, Pigeon, Soap

Purple Category: ___ GOOSE

• Purple Words: Golden, Grey, Mother, Silly

Did you guess the answers correctly? If so, congratulations! If not, don't worry; there will be another opportunity to crack the puzzle tomorrow. Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone. Newsweek will be back with another round of hints and tips for each new game.