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 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 #531) - today's words
Today's NYT Connections words are…
- BALL-IN-CUP
- BALANCE SHEET
- LATEX
- LOLLIPOP
- ACCOUNT
- CHECKERS
- COTTON SWAB
- LICORICE
- GUM
- CORN DOG
- STORY
- SAP
- CHRONICLE
- RESIN
- ROULETTE
- DESCRIPTION
NYT Connections today (game #531) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- Yellow: That's how it went
- Green: Plant juices?
- Blue: Candy apple could be another
- Purple: Two-color things
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 #531) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: TELLING OF EVENTS
- GREEN: SECRETED BY TREES
- BLUE: THINGS ON STICKS
- PURPLE: BLACK OR RED
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #531) - the answers
The answers to today's Connections, game #531, are…
- YELLOW: TELLING OF EVENTS ACCOUNT, CHRONICLE, DESCRIPTION, STORY
- GREEN: SECRETED BY TREES GUM, LATEX, RESIN, SAP
- BLUE: THINGS ON STICKS BALL-IN-CUP, CORN DOG, COTTON SWAB, LOLLIPOP
- PURPLE: BLACK OR RED BALANCE SHEET, CHECKERS, LICORICE, ROULETTE
- My rating: Easy
- My score: 1 mistake
This was a surprisingly easy Connections game, given that when I first looked at it I was completely nonplussed. None of the words seemed remotely related, although in hindsight I should have spotted yellow – TELLING OF EVENTS – right away, given that it's a simple collection of synonyms. As it was, that was the group I solved by default without even needing to think about it, although frankly I would have got it myself by that stage anyway.
The key here was in getting blue, THINGS ON STICKS, first. Blue is supposedly the second most difficult of the four, and on the days when I get that early I tend to fly through the puzzle without too many issues. And so it was here, with BALL-IN-CUP, CORN DOG, COTTON SWAB and LOLLIPOP relatively obvious examples of stick-based things once I thought about it a little.
I did make one mistake on green, SECRETED BY TREES, because I was tripped up by LICORICE. This is of course a root of some kind (I'm no expert), so sort of tree-related, but not secreted by them. The one I needed was LATEX, which I thought was a human-made thing but which is (I presume) based on rubber. The others were GUM, RESIN and SAP, which were more obvious. LICORICE instead went with the rather fun purple group, BLACK OR RED, although I don't know if it strictly belongs there, given that you can get licorice in all kinds of colors, right? And what about the ones that have a kind of multicolored sandwich with pink and yellow? Anyway, it was obvious enough by that stage, so I notched my streak up to the heady heights of two. Hurrah!
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, 22 November, game #530)
- YELLOW: PUBLICITY ATTENTION, COVERAGE, EXPOSURE, PRESS
- GREEN: POINT OF VIEW ANGLE, LENS, PERSPECTIVE, POSITION
- BLUE: WORK COMMUNICATION PLATFORMS MEET, SLACK, TEAMS, ZOOM
- PURPLE: “___ ISLAND” FANTASY, LOVE, SHUTTER, TREASURE
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.
