If you’re reading this article today, there is a likely chance you’re struggling with the day’s Connections puzzle.
If you’ve not played it before, Connections is the latest word game from The New York Times to hit the internet, and it has taken social media by storm.
The game was launched in June 2023 and has quickly achieved viral success. It is now the news outlet’s second most-played brainteaser after the hugely popular word game Wordle.
How To Play ‘Connections’
Each puzzle consists of 16 words, with each group of words separated into four categories, and players need to figure out the common thread between each category: yellow, green, blue and purple. For example, Wednesday’s game linked the words “aura,” “palm,” “tarot” and “tea,” which all came under the category “things read in divination.”
Words can often belong in two categories, to add a layer of difficulty. However, each group must consist of four individual words, with no repeated answers. Groups are more difficult according to their color, with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, then blue. Purple is the hardest category to solve.
If all four words are correctly placed into each set, those words will be removed from the board. Each incorrect guess counts toward the mistake tally. Up to four errors can be made before it’s game over.
“The game has evolved with the solvers, and responds to solvers’ experience and expectations,” Wyna Liu, the game’s editor, previously told Newsweek, pointing out how she now sometimes “clusters” words on the board together which may trick people into thinking they don’t belong together at all.
Liu builds the seven daily games every week herself from ideas she sources through her daily life experiences. She keeps a tidy spreadsheet with her theme or word ideas, but a notebook is never far away in case inspiration hits her.
‘Connections’ #375 Clues for Thursday, June 20
Newsweek has some hints to help you figure out today’s Connections categories.
Yellow: These words are all related to DIY tasks.
Green: People use these items when they do a certain water-based activity.
Blue: You might see these things when getting your hair done.
Purple: These answers follow a word that describes a particular weather phenomenon.
‘Connections’ #375 Answers for Thursday, June 20
Yellow category: BITS OF HARDWARE
Yellow words: Nail, Nut, Screw, Washer
Green: FISHING GEAR
Green words: Fly, Hook, Line, Sinker
Blue: HAIR SALON FIXTURES
Blue words: Chair, Dryer, Mirror, Sink
Purple: LIGHTNING _____
Purple words: Bolt, Bug, Rod, Strike
Did you guess the answers correctly? If so, congratulations! If not, there will be another opportunity to crack the puzzle tomorrow.
Connections are released at midnight in your local time zone. Newsweek will be back with another round of hints and tips for each new game.
While you wait for the next game, you could give the geography guessing game Worldle a try.
Getty/Prostock-Studio
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.