It’s the weekend! And that means you have another chance to solve a weekend Connections puzzle: they’re the same as the weekday Connections puzzles, but on a weekend. Yay! Read on for my hints and commentary on today’s game.
What should you do once you’ve finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I’ve also got daily Wordle hints and answers, Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (game #405) – today’s words
Today’s NYT Connections words are…
- WAX
- MUMMY
- GIFT
- ANCHOR
- BURRITO
- PRESENT
- CLAY
- PAPYRUS
- SPRAIN
- FLAIR
- MODERATE
- TALENT
- INSTINCT
- PARCHMENT
- HOST
- FACULTY
NYT Connections today (game #405) – hint #1 – group hints
What are some clues for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- Yellow: Just add stylus
- Green: Small screen star
- Blue: Innate
- Purple: We got it covered
Need more clues?
We’re firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today’s NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #405) – hint #2 – group answers
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: ANCIENT WRITING SURFACES
- GREEN: LEAD, AS A TV PROGRAM
- BLUE: NATURAL ABILITY
- PURPLE: WRAPPED THINGS
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #405) – the answers
The answers to today’s Connections, game #405, are…
- YELLOW: ANCIENT WRITING SURFACES CLAY, PAPYRUS, PARCHMENT, WAX
- GREEN: LEAD, AS A TV PROGRAM ANCHOR, HOST, MODERATE, PRESENT
- BLUE: NATURAL ABILITY FACULTY, FLAIR, INSTINCT, TALENT
- PURPLE: WRAPPED THINGS BURRITO, GIFT, MUMMY, SPRAIN
- My rating: Easy
- My score: 1 mistake
There was more classic misdirection from the NYT in today’s Connections puzzle, and it cost me a guess early on. I put together GIFT, TALENT, INSTINCT and FLAIR but GIFT was not something that went with the others (even though it could have done). Nor did it go with PRESENT, which was instead used in the context of ‘LEAD, AS A TV PROGRAM’, together with ANCHOR, HOST and MODERATE.
Instead, GIFT was part of the purple group, which for once I solved myself rather than only getting it by default. This was a rather nice one of ‘WRAPPED THINGS’, together with BURRITO, MUMMY and SPRAIN; you couldn’t get a more diverse Connections group, but also one that totally makes sense once you solved it.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections answers (Friday, 19 July, game #404)
- YELLOW: ROMANTIC PARTNER FLAME, LOVER, STEADY, SWEETHEART
- GREEN: INSULT BURN, DIG, JAB, SLIGHT
- BLUE: GAS PUMP OPTIONS DIESEL, PLUS, PREMIUM, REGULAR
- PURPLE: ___ TABLE COFFEE, PERIODIC, POOL, WATER
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don’t technically need to solve the final one, as you’ll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What’s more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It’s a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It’s playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
