Connections, a word puzzle game from The New York Times, challenges players to identify the common threads linking groups of four words. Launched in June 2023, it swiftly rose to become the news outlet’s second most popular game, trailing only the ubiquitous Wordle. Unlike Wordle’s single-word daily challenge, Connections presents players with 16 words divided into four color-coded categories: yellow, green, blue, and purple. The goal is to correctly associate all four words within each category based on their shared characteristic, revealing the category’s color and removing the words from the board. Players can make up to four incorrect guesses before the game ends, and while there’s no time limit, the puzzle refreshes daily.
The connecting themes in Connections span a diverse spectrum, encompassing everything from types of plants and taco toppings to linguistic quirks like homophones and palindromes. The game’s creator, Wyna Liu, highlighted the tiered difficulty levels, explaining that some categories rely on wordplay – palindromes, homophones, adding or dropping letters – rather than the literal meanings of the words. She identified three key factors contributing to the puzzle’s difficulty: word familiarity, ambiguity of categorization, and the complexity of the wordplay involved. To aid struggling players, the game offers a “shuffle” option to rearrange the words on the board, potentially sparking new insights.
For the Connections puzzle #586 released on Friday, January 17, the categories and their associated words presented distinct challenges. The yellow category, ultimately revealed as FRANKFURTER, comprised “Banger,” “Brat,” “Link,” and “Sausage” – all terms referring to various types of meat, particularly sausages. The green category, STRIKE, included the words “Bop,” “Hit,” “Knock,” and “Tap,” all verbs describing actions that can be interpreted as both playful and potentially undesirable, depending on the context.
The blue category, WEB BROWSERS, featured “Chrome,” “Edge,” “Opera,” and “Safari,” all popular software applications used for navigating the internet. The purple category, ENDING WITH BEER BRANDS, presented a more intricate challenge. The words “Autoharp,” “Contrabass,” “Pepperoni,” and “Rosebud” all end with the names of beer brands: Harp, Bass, Peroni, and Bud, respectively. This category required recognizing not only the shared pattern but also the specific beer brands referenced within each word.
Solving Connections requires a blend of vocabulary knowledge, lateral thinking, and an appreciation for wordplay. The game’s varying difficulty levels, influenced by word familiarity, ambiguity of categorization, and wordplay complexity, ensure an engaging experience for a broad range of players. The “shuffle” feature provides a helpful tool for those struggling to identify connections, offering a fresh perspective on the arrangement of words. The daily refresh of the puzzle ensures a continuous stream of new challenges, keeping players engaged and their minds sharp.
Newsweek consistently provides hints and solutions for each daily Connections puzzle, offering support for players seeking assistance. This resource allows players to understand the logic behind the connections, even if they were unable to solve the puzzle independently. Beyond Connections, Newsweek also offers daily hints for Wordle, another popular word game from The New York Times, demonstrating their commitment to supporting puzzle enthusiasts across various platforms. This commitment to providing hints and solutions allows players to learn from each puzzle and improve their skills for future challenges. Successfully deciphering the connections in each puzzle brings a sense of accomplishment, reinforcing the appeal of wordplay and the satisfaction of solving a challenging puzzle.
