NYT Connections challenges players to tap into their intuition and vocabulary skills. With a concise set of 16 words, the goal is to identify four correct groupings. The puzzle starts with the relatively straightforward yellow group, but beware – the purple group can be notoriously tricky!
Let’s understand the hints to solve the equation today.
Theme of Today: "INFO ON A NUTRITION LABEL"
Look for nutrients and components listed on food packaging
All of these words are found in a nutritional information panel
Think about the items measured and the tracked elements used in dietary purposes
Hint: These are all items monitored and quantified on food labels
Today's Theme: "METAPHOR FOR SOMETHING UNEXPECTED"
Focus on figurative expressions for surprises or plot twists
Think of words describing sudden change or revelation
Likewise, imagine idioms and metaphors concerning sudden/unexpected change
Hint: These words are all used figuratively to describe unexpected events
Today's Theme: "THINGS YOU CAN INSERT INTO A SPREADSHEET"
Look for components and elements of digital spreadsheet programs
Think of structural units and organizational features
Mention what makes up the program frameworks in Excel
Hint: These represent different organizational elements within spreadsheet software
Today's Theme: "HELICAL THINGS"
These are objects with a spiral or corkscrew shape
Look for items with twisted or coil-shaped structures
Search for spiral-shaped items, whether natural or man-made
Hint: These all share a distinctive spiral or helical form
Practice with hints from previous game puzzles. This will sharpen skills for the coming games.
For the Yellow category focusing on nutrition label information, consider the approach from 16 April 2025. The "BURLESQUE WARDROBE" theme requires identifying clothing items that are related to the art of burlesque performance. Both these categories are elements that come together concerning a particular context or domain.
The Green category featuring metaphors for unexpected events builds on the pattern from 17 April 2025. The "COMPONENTS OF A PIZZA" theme is on fundamental elements that together make a pizza. Today's category does the same, this time revolving around elements of a language, rather than food.
For the Blue category about spreadsheet components, apply the functional approach from 18 April 2025. The theme "Things you can pick up" identifies objects consisting of Apple, Banjo, Card, and Nose. Both categories of items are linked live by a shared action or function.
For the Purple category, the assessment consists of the ability to identify objects that are physically spiral or helical, mainly based on visual and structural appearance.
For those who want the complete solutions to today's puzzle:
Puzzle designer Wyna Liu developed Connections for the NY Times, part of the NYT Games family, in 2023. The Connections puzzle puts across an interesting combination of everyday details like nutritional facts, figurative language like twisted examples of metaphor imaginable, technical terms that will have meaning in their own right, and physical features like screw-type objects.