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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 381st Connections game to get you started:
How Did We Solve This Connections Game?
June 26th was an average game.
Skimming the words, the words captain, general, major, and private all just struck me as likely related, since they’re army ranks. The Yellow group was literally just named “Army Ranks.”
The next word I picked up was outlet. Outlet most commonly refers to the apparatus on the wall that you plug things into, so I went looking for other words that have things plugged into them. Port (like an ethernet or USB port), a jack (like a audio jack), and socket all fit that idea quite nicely, so I stuck them in a group together. They were Green, “Place to Plug Something In.”
Appetite, audience, demand, and market are all terms related to what consumers want. “There is a market for a tool like that” or “There isn’t enough demand to justify making a product like that” are examples of how you might see them used. In any case, the connection was pretty straight forward. The Blue was “Consumer Desire, Collectively.”
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.
