If you’re struggling with today’s Connections puzzle, Newsweek has all the information you need to put you on the road to a win.
The hugely popular brainteaser was launched by The New York Times in June of last year and has gone on to become the newspaper’s second most played game behind Wordle, another word-based puzzle.
If you have never played before, Connections challenges players to uncover threads connecting a series of words. Instructions on how to play the game are below. Clues and the answers for today’s puzzle are toward the end of the article.
How to Play Connections
Connections tasks players with grouping 16 words into four categories based on association. For example, Tuesday’s game linked the words “Charlatan,” “Fraud,” “Quack,” and “Sham” under the category “Imposter.”
Each of the four categories is labeled with a color, which also signifies their difficulty level. Yellow is the easiest category, followed by green, blue and purple. However, 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, although less-common words aren’t used only in the harder categories. “Item overlap,” where one word can be linked to multiple categories, is another way Connections tests players.
If stuck, players can hit the shuffle button, which will mix up where the words appear on the screen.
Maria Korneeva/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Wyna Liu, a crossword editor at the Times who was asked to develop Connections, recently told Newsweek about her recommended tips for playing the game.
“My best piece of advice is to wait as long as you can before guessing,” she said.
“You may see the board and have completely identified the category, seeing five words that could belong in that category,” she continued. “Don’t try to guess the four words in that category because even though you know what the fifth member is, you won’t know which of the four it might not be,” which would ultimately waste a turn.
“Don’t do what I do, which is ‘rage solve,'” Liu said.
The answers for today’s Connections puzzle will be revealed at the end of this article, so scroll with caution if you want to work them out yourself.
Connections #409 Clues for Wednesday, July 24
Newsweek has some hints to help you figure out today’s Connections categories.
Yellow: These words can be used when you’re playing around with someone.
Green: Each of these answers is associated with how chicken is sold.
Blue: For these answers, think of young creatures.
Purple: These words can be linked to aggressively passing others.
Connections #409 Answers for Wednesday, July 24
Yellow Category: JOKE AROUND WITH
Yellow Words: Kid, Razz, Rib, Tease
Green Category: POULTRY CUTS
Green Words: Breast, Tender, Thigh, Wing
Blue Category: BABY ANIMALS
Blue Words: Calf, Cub, Fawn, Kit
Purple Category: PUSH THROUGH A CROWD
Purple Words: Barge, Jostle, Muscle, Shoulder
Did you guess the answers correctly? If so, congratulations. If not, there will be another opportunity to crack the puzzle tomorrow.
Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone. Newsweek will be back with another round of hints and tips for each new game.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.