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 #596) – today’s words
Today’s NYT Connections words are…
- OLIVE
- TYPEWRITER
- EXTRA
- SAMPLE
- BARK
- BITE
- AXE
- SCALES
- TWINS
- OIL
- SHELL
- VIRGIN
- TASTE
- HEDGE MAZE
- SKIN
- MOUTHFUL
NYT Connections today (game #596) – hint #1 – group hints
What are some clues for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Snack-size
- GREEN: Outer layer
- BLUE: Cook with this
- PURPLE: “Here’s Johnny!”
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 #596) – hint #2 – group answers
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: SMALL AMOUNT OF FOOD TO TRY
- GREEN: PROTECTIVE COVERINGS IN NATURE
- BLUE: “EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL”
- PURPLE: SEEN IN “THE SHINING”
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #596) – the answers
The answers to today’s Connections, game #596, are…
- YELLOW: SMALL AMOUNT OF FOOD TO TRY BITE, MOUTHFUL, SAMPLE, TASTE
- GREEN: PROTECTIVE COVERINGS IN NATURE BARK, SCALES, SHELL, SKIN
- BLUE: “EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL” EXTRA, OIL, OLIVE, VIRGIN
- PURPLE: SEEN IN “THE SHINING” AXE, HEDGE MAZE, TWINS, TYPEWRITER
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 3 mistakes
My suspicion that Connections will always be playing mind tricks is such that when I saw the words EXTRA, VIRGIN, OLIVE, and OIL on the grid, I thought, “yes, very clever Connections, I’m not falling for your trap.”
But I did fall for it, refusing to play the obvious when that was the connection after all! Well, until the point when there was no alternative.
As for SEEN IN “THE SHINING” – that’s fun and could be the start of a new party game naming classic films in four words. Although some you could get in two – for instance SHOWER and BLOOD or SHARK and BOAT.
How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections answers (Sunday, 26 January, game #595)
- YELLOW: WAYS TO GET FOOD FARM, FISH, GATHER, HUNT
- GREEN: KEEP APART CLOISTER, SECLUDE, SEPARATE, SILO
- BLUE: PARTS OF A BIG RIG AXLES, HITCH, TRACTOR, TRAILER
- PURPLE: DANCE EVENTS PLUS A LETTER BALLY, DISCOG, PROMO, RAVEN
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.
