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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 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.
Hints for Today’s Connections Groups
Here are a few hints for the 422nd Connections game to get you started:
Bridle, Byte, Comedian, Drill
How Did We Solve This Connections Game?
August 7th’s game came easily except for Purple, though that was mostly because I lucked into figuring out Blue first.
I happened to glance at x-ray first, and immediately jumped to radio next. That clued me in that the category was about different parts of the “Electromagnetic Spectrum.” From there, it was easy to pick out microwave and visible. “Electromagnetic Spectrum” was the Blue group.
With microwave out the way, I moved to dishwasher next. It can be an appliance, but it is also a pretty common job. We don’t have any other appliances on the list, so I started looking for other restaurant-adjacent jobs. That led me to cook, host, and server. They were in the Green category, “Restaurant Jobs.”
Stuff, jam, pack, and ram are all synonyms for “Cram,” which was the Yellow group.
That left bridle, byte, comedian, and drill. They must be in the Purple group, and that often means there is a word that goes with all of them. Try as I might, however, I couldn’t get it.
It turned out that Purple was just “Things with Bits.”
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.
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.
