XWord Muggles Forum

Is anyone playing "Connections" at nytimes.com? It's a beta version only available through your browser, NOT on the NYT app. I was introduced to it 3 days ago. I think it is available to everyone.

You are given 16 words and have to group them into four groups of words each connected by some theme. Some words will fit more than one theme, so you have to take care. There is only one set of groups that works cleanly for all 16 words.

The themes range can be tricky. The other day I was left with a group of four that I couldn't understand at first. But then saying them out loud, I realized the clever connection. It's that type of thing that makes me think that Meta solvers might enjoy this puzzle too.


Connections
Puzzle #60
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
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This has become one of my favorite puzzles.

I see you did what I often do - found the supposedly harder sets before the easier ones.

Thanks @mkmf! Just tried it for the first time with good results!
(Kinda reminds me of this week's MEOW. )

Connections
Puzzle #61
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪

I am not going to make it a habit to post here on a daily basis.
But I've just been so starved for colors besides wordle green and yellow, that I wanted to do it once! :P

I added it to my morning puzzle routine. I really love the colors and the challenge of dealing with 5 members of a group. Which one is also something else? I hope it stays.

BarbaraK wrote: ↑Thu Aug 10, 2023 11:01 pm I see you did what I often do - found the supposedly harder sets before the easier ones.

Have been playing this since puzzle #3, and my version of the game includes trying to guess the groups in the right order. Sadly, NYT often gets the order wrong.

Finally got around to playing this today- thanks so much for sharing! I have bookmarked the page.
Connections
Puzzle #62
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟨🟨🟨🟨

I play but only saw this thread today.

Boy, today's puzzle was really hard for me. I got the first two categories, then I had to think long and hard to divide up the final 8 words.

Has everyone noticed that Connections is no longer considered "beta"? We're pleased. We're also glad that they are not tracking scores. That means that my husband and I can each keep playing separately everyday.

Connections
Puzzle #73
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦

Just noticed this thread. I’ve been playing this since it was in beta, now on the app. Some of the groups are definitely head-scratchers!

I've been playing this game since first alerted to it here (thanks again, @mkmf!)

Connections
Puzzle #125





Today, quite unintentionally, I ended up solving in what they deemed hardest to easiest order.

NYT copied this wholesale from the BBC game show "Only Connect." It's one of the segments on the show. The others also require you to figure out how four things are connected. It requires same kind of thinking as solving metas. You can find it on YouTube. (I suspect that the show's creators wanted to call it Connect Four, but that was already taken, so they settled for a more obscure reference -- E.M. Forster's Howard's End.)

JRS51 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 24, 2023 11:49 am Just noticed this thread. I’ve been playing this since it was in beta, now on the app. Some of the groups are definitely head-scratchers!

Sometimes I end up playing "backwards" -- I'm left with the last four words and having to figure out the connection -- even then I've missed a few and had to rely on the final reveal. Funny to have been told "Perfect" in those cases! Feel like a bit of a fraud.

whimsy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 19, 2023 11:09 am

JRS51 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 24, 2023 11:49 am Just noticed this thread. I’ve been playing this since it was in beta, now on the app. Some of the groups are definitely head-scratchers!

Sometimes I end up playing "backwards" -- I'm left with the last four words and having to figure out the connection -- even then I've missed a few and had to rely on the final reveal. Funny to have been told "Perfect" in those cases! Feel like a bit of a fraud.

100% agree!

whimsy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 19, 2023 11:09 am
Sometimes I end up playing "backwards" -- I'm left with the last four words and having to figure out the connection -- even then I've missed a few and had to rely on the final reveal. Funny to have been told "Perfect" in those cases! Feel like a bit of a fraud.

On "Only Connect," you get points (2, I think) for each correct group but also one point (I think) for identifying the element that links them.

I too have gotten a correct fourth line with no idea why, and then Connections informs me that they are all the actual surnames of rappers (like Jay Z or Lil Kim) or something like that.

My husband and I have been playing this for several weeks now and really enjoying it! At the breakfast table every morning we do Wordle, Connections, and (on weekdays) J!6 on the Jeopardy! website and the preview of the day's final Jeopardy! at The Jeopardy! Fan.

Connections
Puzzle #159

Connections
Puzzle #160





Fun one

Connections
Puzzle #161

Connections
Puzzle #162