Connections is the latest game in The New York Times' stable of brainteasers to take the internet by storm.
Launched in June 2023, the word game has already become the news outlet's second-most played game after Wordle. While Wordle, which was created by Josh Wardle, requires players to find one word a day, Connections challenges players to find common threads between a series of words.
If you're not yet familiar with the game, Newsweek has provided some instructions below to get you started.
How To Play 'Connections'
Each puzzle consists of 16 words, with each group of words separated into four categories.
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 the words in a group have been correctly connected.
To make the task all the more challenging, a word can sometimes belong to more than one category—but there is only one correct answer.
Connections editor Wyna Liu has advised that if you notice that there are five or more words that belong to one category, try pivoting to a different category before making your first guess.
"Doing so might take one of those extra cards out of contention, or at least remove a few cards from the board, making other categories easier to see," Liu said.
The answers for Friday's Connections puzzle will be revealed at the end of this article, so please scroll down with caution if you want to work them out yourself.
'Connections' #327 Clues for Friday, May 3
Newsweek has some hints to help you figure out today's Connections categories.
Yellow: These words are linked to places where people party after dark.
Green: For these words, think of leaving things behind.
Blue: These words represent different types of measurements.
Purple: Each of these words precedes a place where things are purchased.
'Connections' #327 Answers for Friday, May 3
Yellow Category: NIGHTSPOTS
Yellow Words: Bar, Club, Disco, Lounge
Green Category: CAST OFF
Green Words: Ditch, Drop, Lose, Shed
Blue Category: UNITS OF LENGTH
Blue Words: Fathom, Foot, League, Yard
Purple Category: ___SALE
Purple Words: Bake, Clearance, Garage, Sample
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