How to Solve NYT Connections

How Connections works

You’re given a 4×4 grid of 16 words and must sort them into four hidden groups of four that share a theme. You get exactly four mistakes before the game ends. The groups are color-coded by difficulty: yellow (easiest), green, blue, and purple (hardest, and usually the trickiest wordplay). The whole puzzle is built around overlap — words that seem to belong to more than one group — so the skill is not knowing the words, it’s resisting the obvious grouping.

Start by solving in your head, not on the board

The biggest mistake is guessing the first group you notice. Because four mistakes is all you get, you should aim to identify all four groups before you submit anything. Read the full grid, then look for the obvious-looking category — and immediately distrust it. The puzzle almost always plants four or five candidates for an “easy” group when only four are correct, and the extras belong to a sneakier category.

A useful rhythm: mentally assign every word a best-guess group, then count. If a category has five plausible members, you’ve found the trap — one of those five belongs somewhere else, and figuring out which is the actual puzzle.

Submit the group you’re surest of first

Order matters. Always lock in the group you are 100% certain about — not the one that looks easiest. Removing four words from the grid is the single most powerful move, because it eliminates overlap and makes the remaining 12 words far easier to sort. Every correct group you peel off makes the next one clearer.

If two groups feel equally likely, submit the one whose four words have no alternate home elsewhere in the grid. Certainty beats difficulty color every time.

Watch for the classic traps

• The overlap word. A word that fits two themes is placed on purpose. Ask which group needs it to reach four — that’s usually its real home.
• The too-obvious category. If a theme jumps out instantly (e.g. “types of dog”), expect one member to be a decoy belonging to a punnier group.
• Surface meaning vs. wordplay. The purple group is often not about meaning at all. Look for hidden words, “___ + a common word” patterns, homophones, anagrams, or words that all precede/follow the same word.
• Proper-noun mixers. A category might combine a first name, a brand, and a place that all share a feature — don’t assume a name only fits a “names” group.

Crack the purple group with a checklist

When you’re stuck, the leftover words are usually the wordplay group. Run them through this checklist:

• Do they all become new words when you add the same letter or word (CAR + D, CAR + T)?
• Do they all contain a hidden word (a color, a body part, a number)?
• Are they homophones of something else, or anagrams of a set?
• Do they all pair with one word — “___ board,” “fire ___”?

If the four leftovers seem to have nothing in common by meaning, that’s a strong signal the link is structural rather than semantic.

Protect your four mistakes

Treat mistakes as a budget. If you’re not sure, use the Shuffle button to see the words in a fresh arrangement — a new layout can break a mental rut. And when you’ve narrowed it to two possible swaps but can’t decide, solve the other groups first; process of elimination often makes the last group automatic and costs you zero guesses.

Need today’s help?

For category hints and the day’s groupings, visit our Connections hints page. If a single tricky word is blocking you, the Word Unscrambler can help you spot hidden words and anagrams that power the purple group.