NYT Connections

Our Verdict

The sharpest lateral-thinking word puzzle available as a daily — the purple category alone is worth the visit. Better than Wordle for players who want categorical reasoning over letter deduction.

How to Play NYT Connections

1. 1Read all 16 words before making any selections — first impressions on obvious groupings are often traps.
2. 2Identify the yellow (easiest) category first by looking for the most literal shared property.
3. 3Be suspicious of words that look like they belong together — the puzzle deliberately places plausible decoys across categories.
4. 4Click four words you believe share a category, then click Submit. Correct groups are removed; incorrect guesses cost one of your four allowed mistakes.
5. 5When a guess is one away from correct, the game tells you — use that to reconsider which single word needs to move to a different group.
6. 6Save the purple group for last — approach it with whatever words remain after the other three groups are confirmed.