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Connections is a game from the New York Times that challenges you to find the association between words. It sounds easy, but it isn’t—Connections categories can be almost anything, and they’re usually quite specific. If you need a hand getting the answers, we’ve got you covered.
What Is Connections?
Connections is a game from the New York Times. The objective is simple: sort 16 words into groups of 4. Each group of words will be connected by some common idea or theme. That common element could be anything. We have seen everything from games that rely on the number of letters in the words to categories that require you to spot an extra letter at the end of the word. Sometimes they’re references to economics, other times they reference fairy tales. There is no telling what sort of association there will be between words.
Once you’re confident you understand the connection, select 4 words, then hit “Submit.” You have only four attempts in total, so don’t be too guess-happy.
Hints for Today’s Connections Groups
Here are a few hints for the 432nd Connections game to get you started:
Cottage, Craftsman, Prairie, Ranch
How Did We Solve This Connections Game?
Today’s game was pretty straight forward, though Green and Purple threw me.
The first group I got was Yellow, “Spoken Communication.” I was tipped off by the combination of dialect and tongue—nothing else really matched with them, and from those two words, it was easy to pick up language and speech.
With tongue out of the way, french, kiss, make out, and neck all seemed likely to be in a group related to… kissing? I was dubious, but it turned out that they were indeed in a group. I think “Canoodling” (the name of the Green group) might be the most elegant term for kissing in the English language.
Bandage, dressing, scissors, and tape are all evocative of something medical. They bring to mind images of cuts, stitches, and other injuries, so I placed them together. They were in the Blue group.
That left cottage, craftsman, prairie, and ranch. Cottage and ranch made me think of things you might put on food (not that I’d ever put ranch or cottage cheese on the same thing), but craftsman and prairie made absolutely no sense in that context. Without any leads, I just gave up and revealed the answer. Purple was “House Styles,” something I should have gotten.
How Do You Guess Connections Groups?
There is no quick, reliable way to approach Connections like there is with Wordle, since Connections isn’t algorithmic. However, there are a few things to keep in mind that can help.
If you didn’t solve this one, don’t feel too bad—there’s always tomorrow! And those words may align with a topic you’re interested in, giving you a leg up on the competition.
