The Connections game: how to play
Connections is a daily word puzzle published by The New York Times. It gives you sixteen words and one job: sort them into four groups of four that share something in common. It sounds simple, and on some days it is. On others, the puzzle is built so that five or six words seem to fit the same group, and only one arrangement actually works.
What is the Connections game?
A new puzzle appears every day. The sixteen words are shuffled into a 4 by 4 grid, and hidden among them are four categories, each with exactly four members. Categories can be as plain as "kinds of fruit" or as sly as "words that hide a Greek letter". You win by finding all four groups before you run out of mistakes. There is no timer, so the game rewards patience over speed.
The basic rules
- You see a grid of 16 words. They are shuffled, so neighbouring words are not related.
- Select four words you think belong together and submit them as a group.
- If you are right, the four words lock together and the group's name and color appear.
- If you are wrong, you lose one of your four mistakes. If three of your four words were correct, the game tells you that you were "one away".
- Find all four groups before your fourth mistake to solve the puzzle.
There is exactly one correct solution each day. A group can look perfect and still be wrong if one of its words is needed somewhere else.
What the colors mean
Every group has a color that tells you how hard the puzzle's editor thinks it is. The color does not describe the type of connection, only its difficulty.
- Yellow is usually the most direct group, often a plain category or set of synonyms.
- Green is a step harder and may need a little general knowledge.
- Blue often relies on specific knowledge: film titles, brands, places or jargon.
- Purple is the trickiest and frequently involves wordplay, such as hidden words, words that share a missing partner, or spelling patterns.
Our guide to Connections colors and category types goes deeper, with examples of each kind of purple group.
How many mistakes do you get?
You get four. Each wrong guess uses one, and the fourth ends the game and reveals the answer. Because the game warns you when you are one word away, a near-miss is useful information: three of those four words belong together, so swap one out rather than starting over.
The traps to watch for
Most lost games come from red herrings: words that fit an obvious group but are needed for a less obvious one. A few habits help:
- Count before you guess. If five words fit a category, one of them belongs somewhere else.
- Look for words with more than one meaning. A word that is both a fruit and a slang term is rarely in the group you first think of.
- Save the purple group for last. With twelve words placed, the remaining four are easier to see as a pattern.
For a fuller set of techniques, read our Connections tips.
When does a new puzzle come out?
A new puzzle unlocks at midnight in your local time zone, and everyone gets the same grid that day. We publish that day's step-by-step hints as soon as the puzzle unlocks on US Eastern Time. You can find them on our today's Connections hint page, and older puzzles in the archive.
Where to play
Connections is published by The New York Times and can be played on its website and in its Games app. Connections Hint Daily is an independent fan site and is not affiliated with The New York Times.