Connections can feel incredibly satisfy to solve because sometimes the categories can be very broad.
In the daily game published by The New York Times, players must find a common link between words—but, as with all puzzles, the obvious answers might not always be correct.
The game is edited by Wyna Liu, who shared some tips on how to ensure success every time you play.
“My top advice is to hold off on guessing as long as you can,” Liu previously told Newsweek.
How to Play ‘Connections’
The categories vary in difficulty from yellow to green to blue to purple, with yellow considered the easiest category and purple the trickiest.
For example, a recent game linked the words “Breaking,” “Surfing,” “Taekwondo” and “Trampoline” under the category: “Olympic events since 2000.” This was a blue category.
Once you have selected four words, you click the “submit” button. If your choices match a category, they will appear in the category color and disappear from the grid. If they are incorrect, however, they will remain gray and stay on the board.
If you are stuck, try selecting the “shuffle” button to move the words to a different place on the grid.
Players have up to four chances to guess incorrectly before the game ends. There’s no time constraint so no need to rush things, as Liu advises.
Here are some hints to help you figure out today’s Connections categories, but scroll down with caution as the answers are below them.
‘Connections’ #585 Clues for Thursday, January 16
Yellow: The act of engaging in the exchange of goods.
Green: Items added to a wall.
Blue: Different way to call people who work at the CIA, KGB or MI6.
Purple: Words that precede a noun that describes a large rodent.
‘Connections’ is the latest ‘New York Times’ game to take the world by storm. Take a look at our tips to solve today’s puzzle.
New York Times
Yellow Category: BUYING AND SELLING
Yellow Words: Business, Commerce, Market, Trade
Green Category: INSTALLED ON A WALL
Green Words: Sconce, Switch, Outlet, Baseboard
Blue Category: SPY
Blue Words: Mole, Agent, Asset, Plant
Purple Category: ___ RAT
Purple Words: Mall, Gym, Pack, Rug
Did you guess the answers correctly? If so, congratulations. If not, there will be another opportunity to crack the code tomorrow.
Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone and Newsweek will be back tomorrow with another round of hints and tips.
In the meantime, you could try your hand at Wordle—another popular game from The Times for which Newsweek also provides daily hints.