Connect the Dots with NYT’s Latest Insights: Unveiling Connection Strategies on Aug 19 (#435)

Quick Links

• What Is Connections?
• Hints for Today’s Connections Groups
• Today’s NYT Connections Answers
• How Did We Solve This Connections Game?
• How Do You Guess Connections Groups?

Connections is a game from the New York Times that challenges you to find the association between words. It sounds easy, but it isn’t—Connections categories can be almost anything, and they’re usually quite specific. If you need a hand getting the answers, we’ve got you covered.

What Is Connections?

Connections is a game from the New York Times. The objective is simple: sort 16 words into groups of 4. Each group of words will be connected by some common idea or theme. That common element could be anything. We have seen everything from games that rely on the number of letters in the words to categories that require you to spot an extra letter at the end of the word. Sometimes they’re references to economics, other times they reference fairy tales. There is no telling what sort of association there will be between words.

Once you’re confident you understand the connection, select 4 words, then hit “Submit.” You have only four attempts in total, so don’t be too guess-happy.

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Hints for Today’s Connections Groups

Here are a few hints for the 435th Connections game to get you started:

• Yellow: You might also include classical or jazz.
• Green: Essentials for a cookout.
• Blue: Ways to improve your flexibility.
• Purple: Famous animated films.

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• Yellow: Music Genres
• Green: Bratwurst Go-Withs
• Blue: Yoga Poses
• Purple: Starting with Pixar Movies

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Today’s NYT Connections Answers

Music Genres (Yellow):

Blues, Country, Folk, Rock

Bratwurst Go-Withs (Green):

Brat, Bun, Mustard, Sauerkraut

Yoga Poses (Blue):

Chair, Mountain, Tree, Warrior

Starting with Pixar Movies (Purple):

Coconut, Soulmate, Updo, Wallet

How Did We Solve This Connections Game?

Today’s game wasn’t too bad, though Blue took entirely too long to figure out.

The first group I recognized was Yellow, “Music Genres,” probably because I was scrolling through Spotify at the same time as I was playing the Connections game. The words in Yellow were Blues, Country, Folk, and Rock.

Sauerkraut doesn’t have multiple definitions, and immediately brings to mind sausage or reubens. With food in mind, the only words that really made sense were brat, bun, and mustard—all things you might find at a cookout. Blue was actually “Bratwurst Go-Withs.”

Chair, mountain, tree, and warrior are all yoga poses (though it took me a while to puzzle out the relationship). They were in the Blue group, “Yoga Poses.”

That left Coconut, Soulmate, Updo, and Wallet in Purple. I first tried adding words and letters with no success, then I looked at the words themselves to see if there was a relationship—again, no luck. That meant the words probably need something removed, so I started by seeing if any of the words were made of two or more other words. That eventually led me to Coco, Soul, and Up, and then it hit me: we’re talking about Pixar movies, and the last word, Wallet, should be truncated to Walle. Purple was “Starting with Pixar Movies.”

How Do You Guess Connections Groups?

There is no quick, reliable way to approach Connections like there is with Wordle, since Connections isn’t algorithmic. However, there are a few things to keep in mind that can help.

1. Look for similar parts of speech. Are some words verbs and others nouns? Are some adjectives? Try mentally grouping them based on those categories and see if any other patterns jump out at you.
2. Are the words synonyms? Sometimes categories will just be synonyms for a phrase, or very close to synonyms. Don’t rely too closely on this, though. Occasionally, Connections will deliberately throw in words that are sometimes synonyms to mislead you.
3. Try saying the words. Sometimes, saying the words helps. One puzzle we saw included the words go, rate, faster, clip, pace, speed, move, commute, and hurry—all of which are obviously related to the idea of motion. However, when you say them, it becomes a little more obvious that only four (go, move, hurry, faster) are things you’d actually say to prompt someone to get moving.
4. Expect the red herring . Connections usually has words that could be plausibly, yet incorrectly, grouped together. Take the words Bud, Corona, and Light, as an example. You might instinctively see those three words together and assume they’re lumped together in a category related to beer—but they weren’t.
5. Look for distinct words. If a word on your board doesn’t have multiple meanings or can really only be used in one context, try using that word as the basis for a category.
6. Shuffle the board. Sometimes, moving words around will help you look at them in new ways.

If you didn’t solve this one, don’t feel too bad—there’s always tomorrow! And those words may align with a topic you’re interested in, giving you a leg up on the competition.