The NYT Connections puzzle for Sunday, December 15, 2024, presents a new challenge with intricate word associations and creative groupings. For those seeking assistance, this guide offers hints, detailed explanations, and a complete breakdown of today’s answers.
Spoiler Alert: Planning to solve NYT Connections #553 independently? Proceed with caution, as this guide contains full solutions!
Here are some spoiler-free hints to help identify the four groupings:
Yellow Category: They enhance the flavor of food.
Green Category: Describes situations when things don’t go as planned.
Blue Category: Actions related to quickly going through written material.
Purple Category: Names related to popular music artists, with a twist.
If one needs more guidance, scroll slowly for additional hints and explanations before revealing the final answers.
Some terms might confuse even seasoned players. Here are clarifications for the more challenging ones:
RIFFLE: Refers to quickly flipping through the pages of a book.
FLOUNDER: A verb meaning to struggle or fail; not to be confused with the fish.
MACE: Although it might seem like a medieval weapon, here it refers to a spice.
Pop Artists Minus “S”: This category involves the last names of famous singers with the final "s" removed, which may require some musical knowledge to identify.
The easiest grouping today focuses on common spices. The words in this group are:
CLOVE
MACE
NUTMEG
PEPPER
These terms all belong to the culinary world and are used to enhance food flavors.
This group describes failure or underperformance. The answers are:
FLAIL
FLOP
FLOUNDER
TANK
Each word conveys a sense of something not meeting expectations, whether it’s a project, performance, or event.
The blue group includes words associated with quickly scanning or flipping through pages:
FLIP
LEAF
RIFFLE
THUMB
These actions are common when browsing books, documents, or magazines.
The trickiest group today involves wordplay. Each word represents the last name of a popular singer with the final “s” removed:
KEY (Alicia Keys)
MAR (Bruno Mars)
SPEAR (Britney Spears)
STYLE (Harry Styles)
Recognizing the connection requires some knowledge of popular music and its artists.
Winning Connections often requires careful observation, deductive reasoning, and sometimes a bit of outside knowledge. Here are some tips to approach the game:
Look for Overlaps: Words may fit into multiple categories, so try to confirm the choices before submitting. For instance, “MACE” could seem like a weapon but belongs in the “Spices” group today.
Think Beyond the Obvious: Words that don’t seem connected to others may hold the key. For example, recognizing “STYLE” as Harry Styles’ last name (minus the “s”) helps solve the “Pop Singers Minus ‘S’” group.
Eliminate Words: If a word clearly doesn’t fit into one category, it might help narrow down other possibilities.
Leverage Wordplay: Sometimes, categories involve clever linguistic twists, like today’s “Pop Singers Minus ‘S’” theme.
Connections can be accessed on the New York Times website or in its Games app. Each game board has 16 words or phrases, and the objective is to identify four groups of four words with something in common. Categories can include literal themes (e.g., types of weather) or more abstract ones (e.g., wordplay or cultural references).
Players submit guesses, with correct answers revealing the group’s color (Yellow for easiest, then Green, Blue, and Purple for hardest). Each incorrect submission counts as a strike, with a maximum of four allowed before the game ends.
Start Simple: The first should be the most straightforward one like today’s “Spices.”
Avoid Rushing: Several questions that have been asked are: When submitting make sure the four words that have been inputted fall under the right category (required category).
Use Context Clues: Be careful with other connections or meanings that are not as evident, for instance, “RIFFLE” for flipping pages.
Bookmark Resources: Going back to the hints that are provided daily can also help in upgrading level and will give suggestions on challenging puzzles.
Today’s Connections puzzle has the simple categories like culinary spice and complex categories such as music wordplay. The most important sources of information that would make or break the success are groups of overlaps, complicated meanings, and above all – the patience that is needed to make it through all the processes. Come back to this page tomorrow for more puzzles and additional tips!