It’s mid-week, so it’s completely understandable if you need a bit of extra help with today’s Connections.

Connections is a word game from The New York Times that became incredibly popular in 2023. It follows the huge success of Wordle, the NYT game created by software engineer Josh Wardle.

Spoiler alert: the answers for Wednesday’s Connections are revealed at the end of this article, so please proceed with caution if you want to work them out yourself.

How to Play ‘Connections’

If you’re new to Connections, don’t worry, the game is easy to pick up.

Players are tasked with grouping 16 words into four categories based on association. For example, Tuesday’s puzzle saw the words “flat,” “mule,” “pump and “slidecater” joined together in the category “kinds of shoes.”

Each of the four categories is labeled with a color, which signifies their difficulty level. Yellow is the easiest category, followed by green, blue and purple. The puzzles are rarely straightforward, using homophones and wordplay, among other techniques, to keep players challenged.

The familiarity of the words used and how often they pop up in modern life are also difficulty factors. “Item overlap,” where one word can be linked to multiple categories, is another way Connections tests players.

Players are not timed but only have four guesses, so think carefully. If you’re feeling frustrated, try clicking the “Shuffle” button to jog your memory.

Earlier this year, Connections developer and crossword editor Wyna Liu spoke with Newsweek about the game’s global following.

“The response has been really incredible and overwhelming, and unexpected,” she shared. “It’s exciting that something I care very deeply about is resonating with people.”

‘Connections’ #465 Clues for Wednesday, September 18

Newsweek has some hints to help you work out today’s Connections game.

Yellow: Things that are constructed in front of the façade of a building.

Green: Words used to describe gossip.

Blue: These are answers that can all go before the word for tightly spooled rope.

Purple: Famous animated animals without the last letter present.

‘Connections’ #465 Answers for Wednesday, September 18

Yellow Category: GATHERING SPOT OUTSIDE A RESIDENCE

Yellow Words: Deck, Porch, Stoop, Yard

Green Category: LOWDOWN

Green Words: Dish, Dope, Info, Scoop

Blue Category: KINDS OF REELS

Blue Words: Blooper, Demo, Highlight, Sizzle

Purple Category: CARTOON DOGS MINUS “Y”

Purple Words: Droop, Goof, Lad, Snoop

Were you able to solve today’s puzzle? Don’t stress if not. A new Connections game will be available on Wednesday.

Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone, and Newsweek will return with more helpful clues and answers.

In the meantime, why not try these other word puzzles, like Wordscapes and Lexigo?