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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 puzzle 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 from the number of letters in the words to a common use for all the words. Once you’re confident, select 4 words, then hit “Submit.” You have only four attempts in total, so don’t be too guess-happy.
Corona, Flare, Light, Radiation
How Did We Solve This Puzzle?
The puzzle for March 26th wasn’t the worst we’ve seen, but we did get a little tripped up right out of the gate. The words bud, corona, and light were all right next to each other, which immediately brought to mind beer. However, none of the other words were a good match for that, so we switched tracks.
Bassoon is unambiguously a musical instrument, and it seemed likely that any related words would have to be something else related to music. Perhaps there’d be other instruments, or maybe the words would be associated with classical performances. As it happens, guessing instruments as a category was right on the money. Today’s puzzle also included the words bass, recorder, and harp—all instruments.
Next, we noticed that raise and rear are nearly synonymous, and figured we’d see if any other words matched up with those. You can also foster a child or an animal, and both young children and animals nurse. This seemed like a good enough reason to take a guess, and it paid off.
With fewer words confusing things, it was clearer that corona, flare, light, and radiation can all be related to the sun, and that bud, blood, sprout, and shoot are all related to plants.
How Do You Guess Connections Categories?
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.
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.
