How to Play NYT Connections (with Tips & Tricks)
We’ve been asked a lots of questions about how to be better at Connections, the newest game in the New York Times Games collection. While there’s no single best strategy, we’ve had fun developing our own approaches. We talked to some experienced players and the game’s editors to get some tips.
First, make sure you understand the rules. You can find them by clicking or tapping the question mark icon in the top right corner of the game.
Your gameplay will be influenced by what you know and your personality. Don’t worry too much about finding the perfect solution. Just enjoy the game!
Have a Plan
You don’t need to know every possible way a category can come together, but it helps to know the most common ways they’re structured. The categories have different levels of difficulty: yellow is easiest, then green, then blue, and purple is the trickiest. They usually involve trivia or word meanings.
But knowing too much can sometimes confuse you. Having too much knowledge can be a problem in this game.
The purple category is hard because the links between the terms are abstract. Overlapping with other categories can also make it tough.
Start by looking for terms with only one possible meaning. For example, “train” could mean many things, but “metaverse” only means one thing. You can use context clues to learn more. For instance, if “baloney” could mean food or nonsense, but there are no other food items, it must mean nonsense.
Remember to set a reasonable goal for yourself. Progress might be slow at first, but you’ll get better with practice.
The First Guess Is the Hardest
Learning to tell how difficult a puzzle is at first glance is very useful. Remember, the terms are all from the same category, but they don’t necessarily mean the same thing. The purple category, the hardest one, can have tricky rhymes, homophones, anagrams, and other challenges.
Try to look for patterns from past puzzles. For example, word patterns, pop culture clues, or fill-in-the-blank phrases.
The difficulty of the game is subjective. What you know might not always match what’s in the puzzle.
Watch Out for Overlap
Spotting a red herring, something that looks like it fits but doesn’t, is tough. More overlap between categories makes a puzzle harder. Try to find terms with only one definition. Look around the board to make sure there aren’t more that fit into the category.
If you see many tiles that could fit into one category, save your guesses for another category with fewer possibilities.
Use Your Resources
The game gives you hints if you pay attention. Try to go as long as you can without guessing. If you’re really stuck, it’s okay to guess. If you’re one term away from completing a category, the game will give you a hint. Remember those guesses to figure out which term doesn’t fit.
You can also use your knowledge. If you’re good at pop culture, that can help you with certain categorie
Don’t worry if you don’t get it right every time. Just have fun playing the game!
You can find Today NYT Connections answers