Good morning! Let’s play Connections, the NYT’s clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.
What should you do once you’ve finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I’ve also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc’s Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.
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 #561) – today’s words
Today’s NYT Connections words are…
- BOAT
- U
- BOWL
- M
- THOU
- CREW
- V
- YOU
- 8
- EWE
- SCOOP
- GLUE
- TUESDAY
- K
- GRAND
- YEW
NYT Connections today (game #561) – hint #1 – group hints
What are some clues for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Soundalikes
- GREEN: T-shirts
- BLUE: Money slang
- PURPLE: “Man” would be another
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 #561) – hint #2 – group answers
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: HOMOPHONES
- GREEN: NECKLINES
- BLUE: WAYS TO EXPRESS 1,000
- PURPLE: SUPER
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #561) – the answers
The answers to today’s Connections, game #561, are…
- YELLOW: HOMOPHONES EWE, U, YEW, YOU
- GREEN: NECKLINES BOAT, CREW, SCOOP, V
- BLUE: WAYS TO EXPRESS 1,000 GRAND, K, M, THOU
- PURPLE: SUPER 8, BOWL, GLUE, TUESDAY
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 3 mistakes
I knew today was going to be a tough one when I saw the M, U, 8, and K and so it proved, for me at least, as I struggled with a mind block after getting HOMOPHONES.
Had SUPER included Man instead of TUESDAY I would have got there. Living in the UK, our Tuesdays are just your regular Tuesdays and none have ever been described as Super. It’s probably the last day of the week that should be described as “Super”. Monday you have the hope of a fresh week and new possibilities, Wednesday you’re nearly over the midweek hump, Thursday is virtually Friday and Friday is almost Saturday – an actual Super day.
THOU also threw me, as I got stuck on the archaic pronunciation, rather than WAYS TO EXPRESS 1,000, and M confused me too, with my mind going to the James Bond character before the Roman numerals – something the Super BOWL uses to differentiate between years.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections answers (Sunday, 22 December, game #560)
- YELLOW: SLANG FOR HEAD COCONUT, CROWN, DOME, SKULL
- GREEN: PALINDROMES ABBA, KAYAK, NUN, STATS
- BLUE: POLICE PROCEDURALS BONES, ELEMENTARY, KOJAK, MONK
- PURPLE: FIRST IN A COMEDY DUO ABBOTT, FRY, KEY, LAUREL
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.
