What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is The New York Times’ popular daily word-association puzzle where players group 16 words into 4 logical categories. Each group is tied to a specific theme — some obvious, some tricky, and some intentionally misleading. Categories follow a difficulty pattern:
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🟨 Yellow – Easy
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🟩 Green – Medium
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🟦 Blue – Hard
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🟪 Purple – Tricky / Wordplay
Today’s puzzle follows the classic structure but mixes direct definitions with conceptual linguistic terms, making it a balanced but slightly deceptive challenge.
Today’s Categories (Overview)
Here are today’s four categories at a glance:
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🟨 Yellow – Words meaning “Fitting / Appropriate”
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🟩 Green – Words connected to “Achieving Victory / Beating Someone”
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🟦 Blue – “Parts of an Electric Guitar”
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🟪 Purple – “Phonetic Elements of Speech”
Hints for Today’s Puzzle (No Spoilers)
Need help but don’t want the answers yet? Try these clue-style hints:
🟨 Yellow Category Hint:
Think about words you would use to describe something being appropriate, fair, or suitable.
🟩 Green Category Hint:
These words can show victory, ranking, or outperforming someone.
🟦 Blue Category Hint:
Imagine the components of an electric guitar — things you pick, press, twist, or plug.
🟪 Purple Category Hint:
These are technical terms describing how spoken language sounds — pitch, rhythm, stress, etc.
Spoilers Ahead: Today’s NYT Connections Answers
If you’re stuck, here are today’s full solutions with color groups:
🟨 Yellow – Fitting / Appropriate
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FAIR
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JUST
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PROPER
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RIGHT
These words all express correctness, appropriateness, or acceptability.
🟩 Green – Achieve Victory Over / Beat
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BEAT
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BEST
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TAKE
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WORST
Each of these can be used to show winning or outperforming someone.
🟦 Blue – Parts of an Electric Guitar
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FRET
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PEG
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PICKUP
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STRING
All of these components are found on the structure of an electric guitar.
🟪 Purple – Phonetic Elements of Speech
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INTONATION
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LOUDNESS
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RHYTHM
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STRESS
These terms are used in linguistics to describe how spoken language is produced and perceived.
Strategy Tips to Solve Connections Faster
Here are simple tricks that help you beat the puzzle consistently:
✔ Start with Literal Words
Physical items like FRET or PICKUP usually belong to the same practical category.
✔ Watch for Trick Words
Terms like BEAT or RHythm appear to fit multiple groups — avoid rushing to connect them.
✔ Rule Out Opposites
Once you find one correct group, leftover words start forming clearer patterns.
✔ Look for Shared Functions
Guitar parts → tangible
Speech elements → abstract
Victory words → competitive
Fitting words → evaluative
This mental sorting helps filter out distractions.
Final Thoughts
Today’s NYT Connections puzzle blends semantic similarity, instrument vocabulary, and linguistics, making it fun but slightly deceptive. The overlapping tone of words like beat and rhythm is specifically designed to mislead players — a classic hallmark of harder Friday puzzles.
