Your Friday Connections puzzle is here from the NYT – which means your Friday Connections hints are also here. Good luck.
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 #418) - today's words
Today's NYT Connections words are…
- PRESENT
- SAMPLE
- JEALOUS
- TRY
- TAX
- MIX
- LUSH
- POSSESSIVE
- DIRECT
- TEST
- SCRATCH
- NAUSEOUS
- SPIN
- IRREGULAR
- ECOLOGICAL
- STRAIN
NYT Connections today (game #418) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- Yellow: Putting you under pressure
- Green: Decks appeal
- Blue: All about words
- Purple: Related to a specific color
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 #418) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: STRETCH, AS ONE’S PATIENCE
- GREEN: THINGS A DJ DOES
- BLUE: ADJECTIVES USED IN GRAMMAR
- PURPLE: WHAT “GREEN” MIGHT MEAN
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #418) - the answers
The answers to today's Connections, game #418, are…
- YELLOW: STRETCH, AS ONE’S PATIENCE STRAIN, TAX, TEST, TRY
- GREEN: THINGS A DJ DOES MIX, SAMPLE, SCRATCH, SPIN
- BLUE: ADJECTIVES USED IN GRAMMAR DIRECT, IRREGULAR, POSSESSIVE, PRESENT
- PURPLE: WHAT “GREEN” MIGHT MEAN ECOLOGICAL, JEALOUS, LUSH, NAUSEOUS
- My rating: Moderate
- My score: 1 mistake
I spent most of today's game alternately puzzling over what any of the groups could be – literally any of them – then face-palming over their obvious nature once I eventually spotted them. The vast amounts of misdirection inserted cunningingly into the game by the NYT didn't help – POSSESSIVE and JEALOUS could easily have gone together, so too SAMPLE and TEST and TRY (something scientific maybe?), or SPIN and TEST and TRY (as in 'give it a go').
None of those were among the real groups, though. Eventually I got the grammar one – as you'd hope I might, given my choice of career – then followed up with the DJ one. I did ultimately solve the purple one, too, although by then I would have got it by default anyway. So a tough but satisfying instalment of Connections overall.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Thursday, 1 August, game #417)
- YELLOW: PROMOTE HYPE, MARKET, PITCH, SELL
- GREEN: THROW CAST, CHUCK, FLING, HURL
- BLUE: BOOKSTORE SECTIONS FICTION, HUMOR, ROMANCE, TRAVEL
- PURPLE: ___ SOCKS ANKLE, CREW, SWEAT, TUBE
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.
