If you are struggling to hook the last bit of today’s Connections puzzle, you might need a few hints to help you snap answers into place. Today’s puzzle felt easier than yesterday’s to me, but it still had challenges as it does every day. The main part of today’s puzzle that makes things hard is a category that feels like it comes out of nowhere and that most players are not likely to anticipate unless they know the subject extremely well.
If you want a puzzle that focus more on making words than categorizing them, then you should try the NYT Spelling Bee puzzle. This puzzle focuses on a group of letters surrounding one letter in a golden honeycomb. That letter is mandatory and must be included in every word you come up with. However, the rest of the letters are optional, but you can only come up with words that have these letters. Because of that, you will still end up using most of them with every word you submit.
Today’s Connections Category Hints
JANUARY 04 #573
If you need clues for today’s puzzle, you should look at all the possibilities before diving in and making any guesses. Use the below hints to start to separate out the words and think of what might be used with what words. Often, the confusion comes when multiple words seem like they might fit in multiple categories, so avoid that confusion by dissecting each word before you make a guess.
- One category is about how you might dispose of something
- One category is about things that are used to hold something else together
- One category is about things that give you a satisfying feeling when you use them
- One category is about four things all found in the same context – that context is surreal
Related
Wordle History: Archive Of All Past Words Used
Wordle is a simple daily word game that has taken the internet by storm. With only 6 chances to get the right answer, players may need a little help.
If you are still struggling to separate out some of these words, there are still plenty of opportunities to come. Use the following category names or the spoilers below to get a better idea.
|
CRUSH INTO A COMPACT SHAPE |
|
FASTENERS |
|
MARK AS COMPLETED |
|
DEPICTED IN DALI’S “THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY” |
Today’s Connections Answers
JANUARY 04 #573
Yellow Answers: Revealed & Explained
|
CRUSH INTO A COMPACT SHAPE |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
BALL |
CRUMPLE |
SCRUNCH |
WAD |
This category made sense to my brain fairly well right away. I saw WAD and CRUMPLE, and it felt pretty clear. It is the easy category today, so that is to be expected, but sometimes the easy category does not feel easy. I am therefore quite happy that today it did and that I did not feel foolish when I finally got to the yellow category at the end of the puzzle. I also do love a good project where you continuously BALL the same piece of paper over and over again to make it look old – 10/10.
Green Answers: Revealed & Explained
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FASTENERS |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
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BUCKLE |
CLIP |
HOOK |
SNAP |
This category also felt fairly clear to me but in this case, I think it was because of the random life events that have put fiber arts on the brain. If you are also knowledgeable about fiber arts, there are many times when you have to put a BUCKLE or a SNAP onto something else. That, or you need to use a HOOK to put it together in the first place. Either way, at least the sudden presence of the fiber arts in my life was useful for something that I didn’t think it would be.
Related
12 Letter Boxed Strategies To Win Quickly
The Letter Boxed game for the New York Times mobile app asks you to connect letters to form words while using various strategies to win quickly.
Blue Answers: Revealed & Explained
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MARK AS COMPLETED |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
CHECK |
CROSS |
STRIKE |
TICK |
This one scratched my brain in a very good way, and, in fact, likely did so because of the nice feeling putting a CHECK next to a task gives. It’s a wonderful, warm, and fuzzy feeling that makes you feel like you’ve done something quite good. Either way, that feeling then translated over twice as I both TICKed off a row of Connections answers and got the category right at the same time. TICK is the only potentially misleading word here if you think it goes with ANT.
Purple Answers: Revealed & Explained
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DEPICTED IN DALI’S “THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY” |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
ANT |
BRANCH |
CLOCK |
MELTING |
This one was the weird one and the one that didn’t seem like it could go anywhere. Even taking multiple Art History classes did not prepare me to remember individual components of a painting in word form. At least these words were so disconnected from most of the other words in the categories that they didn’t get in my way. Still, they did bother me a little when I got to the end before I saw the final answer. Even then, looking back and forth at the words did make the historian in me squint a little.
Other Games Like Connections
If you still need some cozy puzzles to get you through the rest of the weekend, here are some options for you to try. If you run out of those, maybe it’s time for those fiber arts I mentioned earlier.
|
Game Name |
How To Play |
Is It Free To Play? |
|---|---|---|
|
Wordle (NYT) |
Solve a random five-letter word by using color clues. Every Wordle answer can be found in our daily updated list. |
Yes |
|
Hello Wordl |
Very similar to Wordle, where players change the number of letters in the word. |
Yes |
|
The Password Game |
Create a password in this ever-changing, not-so-simple game. You can find some helpful tips in our Password Game guide. |
Yes |
|
Worldle |
Name a country based only on its silhouette, and a few geographical hints. |
Yes |
- Released
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June 12, 2023
- Developer(s)
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The New York Times Company
- Publisher(s)
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The New York Times Company
- ESRB
-
e
- Platform(s)
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Web Browser
, Mobile
