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How should one tackle a Connections puzzle from today? Fans of the New York Times’s popular word game know the thrill of working with its unique groups. There is a new challenge each day waiting: 16 words unrelated and lumped together for you to tear apart and create four groups of four.
The New York Times daily game Connections tests logic and lateral thinking and involves connections. It consists of playing with word relationships that can be straightforward or quite deceptively so. It only has four chances to get things wrong. It begins as a grid of 16 words. They aim to group them based on their shared characteristics.
These categories most often consist of trivia, wordplay, or common phrases. A group of four players each 'submit' a group of four words that they think are related. The group locks in if the guess is correct, and the process repeats for the other words.
Each category is color-coded. The easiest group is yellow, then green and blue are medium and lastly, purple which is often a wordplay. For example, if a category is purple, it may involve homophones or prefixes.
Players can be guided towards the right answers. Here are today’s hints:
Yellow group: Things you can manage.
Green group: Styles of beer.
Blue group: Investment-related actions.
Purple group: Words that pair with "dome."
A shuffle button can rearrange the words to reveal hidden patterns. Success is often built on the ability to see small links and avoid blinders and misdirected overlaps.
The words for Dec. 18 are:
TEAPOT, TACKLE, ONION, FIELD, SHORT, BOCK, HANDLE, HOLD, HANDLE, SOUR, STOUT, CHROME, TRADE, BITTER, CAPITOL, MANAGE, TEAPOT.
Spoilers ahead! If you want to solve it independently, stop reading now.
The groups and their answers are:
Yellow group (deal with): FIELD, HANDLE, MANAGE, TACKLE.
The words can be shuffled with a button which helps uncover hidden patterns. Success depends on watching for fine links and avoiding the distraction of false anomalies.
The words for Dec. 18 are:
TEAPOT, HOLD, ONION, SHORT, FIELD, STOUT, HEDGE, HANDLE, SOUR, TRADE, CHROME, MANAGE, BITTER, TACKLE, BOCK, CAPITOL.
Spoilers ahead! If you want to solve it without reading any further, stop reading.
The groups and their answers are:
Yellow group (deal with): MANAGE, HANDLE, FIELD, TACKLE.
Green group (styles of beer): BITTER, BOCK, SOUR, STOUT.
Blue group (investment verbs): HEDGE, HOLD, SHORT, TRADE.
Purple group (____ dome): ONION, TEAPOT, CAPITOL, CHROME.
Words in today’s yellow group such as HANDLE and TACKLE are especially meritorious in that they directly point to action. Some of the beer styles in green will be unfamiliar to people who are unfamiliar with brewing terminology.
The blue group is financial verbs commonly found in an investing context, dependent on knowledge of markets. Purple demands architectural knowledge, such as the iconic onion dome.
Teapot Dome will play on some people. The 'Wiktionary of the day' today was a surprising historical twist for a word game, to refer to a US political scandal in the 1920s revolving around oil reserves.
The first step is to go off with the obvious links. STOUT and SOUR can swiftly lead you into a beer category. Watch for overlaps. HOLD could be in a lot of groups, so pick its best connection.
The shuffle function is used to break mental blocks.
Here’s a quick review of the Dec 18 NYT Connections puzzle:
Overall Difficulty: 4/5
Fun Factor: 4.5/5
Wordplay, trivia and connections keep players both sharp and engaged. It's a balance of logic and knowledge that appeals to a wide audience, from puzzle geeks to casual players.
The replay value to it is via the archive feature, where you can defeat past games. It’s perfect for those who are ready to explore their limits and learn how to use Connections’ quirks.
