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Can the code be cracked and the words grouped quickly? Here is the NYT Connections puzzle for Tuesday, December 16, about both logic and creativity. This popular word game is presented as a grid of 16 words. The challenge? Put them into sets of four based on hidden connections (make four groups of four).
The game have some colour twists: yellow, green, blue, and purple categories with various levels of difficulty. The Yellow Group is easy, but the Purple Group has a lot of tricky wordplay.
Let’s get into today’s puzzle! The journey continues with the hints, groups, and answers provided below.
SNOWBALL, CHICKEN, PILLOW, HAM, YODEL, FOOD, BAR, DE Devil DOG, AM, HOHO, KNICKY, WALKIE TALKIE, LIGHT BULB, SATELLITE, WATER BALLOON, DING DONG
Yellow group: Modes of communication.
Green group: Items used in playful fights.
Blue group: Convenience store sweet treats.
Purple group: Elements of classic jokes.
Additionally, each group is colour-coded in terms of its difficulty level. Let’s break them down:
The yellow group is about communication. This set consists of the words AM, HAM, SATELLITE, and WALKIE-TALKIE. Each word is a type of radio or radio-based communication.
Play fights aren’t just for kids —they’re classic fun. FOOD, PILLOW, SNOWBALL and WATER BALLOON are part of the green group. The word is used for items used in playful battles.
Sweet connections: snack cakes. DEVIL DOG, DING DONG, HOHO, and YODEL all appear in the blue group. They are classic snack cakes usually sold in stores and lunch boxes.
Inspired by classic jokes, the purple group writes. Many sets of jokes involve elements like BAR, CHICKEN, KNOCK-KNOCK, and LIGHT BULB.
Whether it’s a knock-knock joke or a "walks into a bar" gag, these are humor words that don’t forget the way.
Here’s the full breakdown of today’s groups:
Yellow Group (Types of Radio): Hundred channels of AM, FM, HAM, SATELLITE, and even WALKIE TALKIE.
Green Group (Playful Fight Items): PILLOW, FOOn, SNOWBALL, WATER BALLOON
Blue Group (Snack Cakes): DING DONG, DEVIL DOG, HOHO, YODEL
Purple Group (Joke Staples): CHICKEN, KNOCK-KNOCK, LIGHT BULB, BAR
Today’s puzzle had some surprises in it. However, the yellow group was pretty easy to recognize, whereas the green and blue groups needed attention. The group added a sense of wordplay with the purple group.
Test players deduction skills, the terms DING DONG and HOHO could belong to one or more categories. For instance, the snack cake DING DONG and the meaning of announcement of arrival, endowing the same with an extra twist.
Even the trickiest puzzles can be conquered by dissecting the grid into bite-size pieces. Shuffling words show you hidden patterns, and focusing on one color at a time helps to reduce confusion. It is crucial to learn from mistakes, as every incorrect guess gives you a clue. By narrowing down groups it helps to identify the rest of the connections.
