Connections, The New York Times' latest word game, has taken social media by storm since it was launched in the summer of 2023.
The Times' associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu helped to create the popular brainteaser and bring it to the news outlet's Games section. It has since become the publication's second most played game, behind Wordle.
While Wordle, which was created by Josh Wardle, requires players to find one word a day, Connections sets players on a mission to find common threads between a series of words. Players must group them and name the categories.
Like Wordle, the new game can be played online on web browsers and mobile devices.
How To Play 'Connections'
As previously mentioned, Connections players are required to group four different words that share a common theme.
Each puzzle consists of 16 words, with each group of words separated into four categories. The uniting themes could be anything from country names to book titles to household products—the (English) linguistic sky is the limit.
While it may seem as though multiple words could fit together, tread with caution: there is only one correct answer. If all four words are correctly placed into each set, those words will be removed from the board. Each incorrect guess counts toward the mistake tally. Players can make up to four mistakes before the game ends.
Should it make the process of guessing the connections easier, players can shuffle and rearrange the board.
The board also has a color-coding system representing levels of difficulty. Yellow represents the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. A group's color will only be revealed once they have been correctly connected.
Perhaps adding to Connections' viral appeal, players can shared their results on social media.
Now that Newsweek has warmed you up with a brief overview, it's time to jump into the action with some helpful hints, as well as the answers. The answers will be revealed at the end of this article, so please scroll down with caution if you want to work them out for yourself.
'Connections' #306 Clues for Friday, April 12
Newsweek has shared hints to help you figure out today's Connections categories.
Yellow: These words are associated with keeping things organized.
Green: For these words, think of affixes that make things seem bigger.
Blue: These words are associated with increasing size.
Purple: Each of these words is linked to games played by children over the years.
'Connections' #306 Answers for Friday, April 12
Yellow Category: ORDERLY
Yellow Words: Clean, Neat, Tidy, Trim
Green Category: AUGMENTATIVE PREFIXES
Green Words: Hyper, Super, Uber, Ultra
Blue Category: BECOME LARGER
Blue Words: Balloon, Mushroom, Snowball, Swell
Purple Category: ITEMS IN CLASSIC KIDS' GAMES
Purple Words: Domino, Jack, Marble, Stick
Did you guess the answers correctly? If so, congratulations. If not, there will be another opportunity to crack the puzzle tomorrow.
Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone. Newsweek will be back with another round of hints and tips for each new game.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ryan Smith is a Newsweek Senior Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
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