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 #544) - today's words
Today's NYT Connections words are…
- SUN
- FLY
- HORN
- WINGS
- ASSOCIATE
- LEGS
- FELLOW
- BOW
- STORM
- CHUM
- RELATE
- LIBERTY
- BAIT
- EQUATE
- LURE
- AFFILIATE
NYT Connections today (game #545) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- Yellow: Collected thoughts
- Green: Angling essentials
- Blue: Female ballers
- Purple: Extended words
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 #545) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: THINK OF TOGETHER
- GREEN: WAYS TO ATTRACT FISH
- BLUE: W.N.B.A. TEAMS
- PURPLE: LONG___
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #545) - the answers
The answers to today's Connections, game #545, are…
- YELLOW: THINK OF TOGETHER AFFILIATE, ASSOCIATE, EQUATE, RELATE
- GREEN: WAYS TO ATTRACT FISH BAIT, CHUM, FLY, LURE
- BLUE: W.N.B.A. TEAMS LIBERTY, STORM, SUN, WINGS
- PURPLE: LONG___ BOW, FELLOW, HORN, LEGS
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 3 mistakes
In the UK, if someone is being friendly – or, indeed, unfriendly (it’s a fine line) – to a stranger in a bar they’ll most likely call them "mate". But what jumped out at me from today’s grid was some nicer ways to address someone you don’t know. Were you working for some fancy legal establishment I’m sure you’d be calling every other person your ASSOCIATE, AFFILIATE or FELLOW but where’s the fourth word for this formal group?
Casting my net not very far from home, it was easy to net FLY, CHUM, BAIT, and LURE into a bucket (see what I did there?). but the fact that it was the GREEN group meant there must be an easier catch on the grid.
Connections really does have a way of keeping you humble, and I went into a Shuffle frenzy trying to see the other sets. Thinking it must be describing an animal, I selected HORN, WINGS, LEGS, and BOW but was one away.
Scrubbing the “mate” idea completely, guesswork got me the YELLOW, and it was luck rather than knowledge of the WNBA that got me home. But it was hardly a slam dunk.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, 6 December, game #544)
- YELLOW: BAFFLE PERPLEX, PUZZLE, STUMP, VEX
- GREEN: CURSE HEX, JINX, POX, SPELL
- BLUE: “TOY STORY” CHARACTERS, FAMILIARLY BUZZ, HAMM, REX, SLINKY
- PURPLE: COLLOQUIAL SUFFIXES CORE, GATE, MANIA, PILLED
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.
