Connections

Heard about that Connections game and want to learn more about it? NYT Connections is one of the most popular word games online, consistently drawing in new players every day. Although the game is fairly easy to play, new players may struggle to understand the rules and how to play it properly. Here is a comprehensive guide on everything you need to know about the NYT Connections game.

What is Connections?

Connections is a word game that involves picking four sets of ‘four connected words’ from a pool of sixteen added across a 4 x 4 grid. This word game tests pattern recognition skills and is ideal for exercising your brain muscles.

Every puzzle has a varying degree of challenge, but the Connections hint helps to figure out the answers. The NY Times organizes this game daily on its website, but it limits players to one puzzle every day. To play Connections an unlimited number of times, you can check out other apps or platforms instead.

NYT Connections Rules and How it Works

So, how does NYT Connections work? Each game is divided into four categories, with every category having four related words. The categories are Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple, with Yellow being the easiest to solve and Purple being the trickiest. 

Players have to pick four words that they think fit in the same category and hit submit to check the result. Only four words can be chosen at a time, not more or fewer.

If the answer is correct, the category will be revealed and highlighted in the main grid of words. Doing this for all four categories will be counted as a win for the player. However, getting a category wrong will cost a ‘guess.’ 

• Every connections puzzle features four guesses in total, after which the answers are revealed, and the game is counted as a loss.
• When players are close to an answer, like getting three correct out of the four words, the game will give a hint that they are only ‘One Away.’

How to Play NYT Connections

You can play this word puzzle game from the official NYT Connections webpage. Additionally, you can download the NYT Games app on iPhone and Android from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, respectively. Now that you know where to play the game, here is how you can play NYT Connections and win the game:

• First, do a quick scan of all the words and look for connections between them. What I do is pick individual words and look for anything related to them. If nothing rings any bells, I simply move to the next word.
• The next step is to look up unfamiliar words. This is not considered cheating, especially because NYTimes Connections can include words from other languages or unfamiliar lingo, like ‘words used by Gen Z.’
• Once you have made a clear connection, pick the words and submit. If it is correct, then all is good, and if it shows ‘One Away,’ then you only need to swap one of the words. But if neither happens, then you need to rethink the connection you assumed between the words.
• When at wits’ end, head to the Hints page and find the first word for every category.

Following these tricks should be enough to help you understand how to play Connections and win most games, but it’s not the end of the world if you lose some. What matters more is increasing your knowledge each day.

Games Like Connections

Connections is one of the fun word games that is easy to get into and play. If you enjoy playing the game and looking for other similar games to try out, then here is a list of games like Connections you can try out:

• Wordle
• Strands
• Letter Boxed
• Contexto

Each of these is a word game and has its own set of rules and styles. Pick the one that looks the most interesting to you and try it out. So, did our guide answer your questions related to the Connections puzzle today? Let us know in the comments.

Popular NYT Puzzles

Connections

Contexto

Letter Boxed

Spelling Bee

Sports Connections

Strands

Wordle