About NYT Connections
NYT Connections presents 16 words that must be sorted into four groups of four. Each group shares a common theme — but the themes range from obvious (types of fruit) to devious (words that can follow "water"). The four groups are color-coded by difficulty: yellow (easiest), green (medium), blue (hard), and purple (hardest). You get four mistakes before the game ends.
Connections launched in June 2023 and quickly became one of the most popular NYT Games, second only to Wordle. Its appeal lies in the mix of vocabulary knowledge, lateral thinking, and the satisfying "aha" moment when you crack a tricky purple category. Over 1,100 puzzles have been published to date.
Understanding Connections Difficulty Colors
Yellow — Straightforward
Yellow categories are the easiest. The connection between words is usually obvious: types of animals, colors, countries, or simple synonyms. If you can spot four words that clearly belong together, they are likely yellow. Start here to build confidence and reduce the word count.
Green — Moderate
Green categories require a bit more thought. The connection might be less obvious, or some words could plausibly fit multiple groups. Green categories often use broader themes like "things that are round" or "words associated with time."
Blue — Tricky
Blue categories introduce misdirection. Words that seem to fit yellow or green might actually belong to blue. The theme might involve wordplay, less common meanings of familiar words, or cultural references that are not immediately obvious.
Purple — Devilish
Purple categories are designed to be solved last, often through process of elimination. They frequently involve hidden patterns: words that contain another word (MANACLE contains MAN), words that can precede or follow a common word (all can follow "fire"), or unusual connections like "words that are also chemical elements." Purple is where Connections truly shines as a puzzle.
Connections Answer Patterns
Most Common Category Types
Analyzing hundreds of past Connections puzzles reveals recurring category patterns:
- Synonyms: Words meaning the same thing (e.g., "ways to say hello" — HI, HOWDY, YO, SUP)
- ___ + word: All words precede or follow a common word (e.g., "fire ___" — CRACKER, FIGHTER, PLACE, WORK)
- Hidden words: Each word contains a hidden smaller word (e.g., PLANET contains PLANE)
- Pop culture: Names, titles, or references from movies, music, TV, or sports
- Wordplay: Homophones, anagrams, or words with double meanings
Hardest Connections Puzzles
The hardest puzzles feature multiple "trap" words — words that seem to belong in one category but actually belong in another. The most challenging Connections puzzles have purple categories involving obscure wordplay or deep cultural references that only become clear in hindsight.
How to Improve at Connections
The single best strategy for improving at Connections is to solve the easiest group first and work your way up. This reduces the word count from 16 to 12 to 8 to 4, making each subsequent guess easier. When stuck, look for the purple category — it often involves a pattern that is not about word meaning at all but about word structure (hidden words, letter patterns, or prefix/suffix connections). For daily tips and strategies, see our Connections Strategy Guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Over 1,100 since the game launched in June 2023, with one new puzzle every day.
Yellow (easiest), Green (medium), Blue (hard), and Purple (hardest). Always solve yellow first.
NYT does not offer an official Connections archive for replay. Our archive documents all answers so you can review past puzzles and learn from the patterns.
Connections resets at midnight Eastern Time, the same as Wordle and other NYT Games.