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How To Play NYT Connections

What Is Connections?

Connections gives you a grid of 16 words and asks you to sort them into four groups of four. Each group is tied together by some hidden theme. It might be a category of things, a word that follows each one, or a pattern that only clicks once you see it. The tricky part is that the puzzle is deliberately designed to mislead you, and several words will look like they fit together when they don't.

The NYT releases a new puzzle every day at midnight ET. Everyone plays the same board, and there's a ritual around sharing your results and comparing notes afterward. There's a great community in the NYT Connections subreddit.

The Rules

Select any four words you think belong together, then hit Submit. If you're right, the category gets revealed and those words leave the board. If you're wrong, you lose one of your four allowed mistakes and the words go back. A "one away" message means exactly one word in your selection was off, which is useful for figuring out what actually belongs where.

On Connections+, you can keep playing even after your fourth mistake to see how the board resolves. You can also hit Shuffleanytime if staring at the same layout isn't helping.

Categories are always specific, never something vague like "NOUNS" or "4-LETTER WORDS." More like:

  • FRUITS: Apple, Orange, Banana, Grape
  • HAPPY ___: Birthday, New Year, Hour, Friday
  • ___ BALL: Basket, Base, Foot, Pin

What the Colors Mean

The four groups are color-coded by difficulty and always revealed in order from easiest to hardest.

Yellow (Easiest)

Usually pretty clear once you see it. A good place to start if something jumps out at you right away.

Green (Moderate)

Logical, but not always immediate. You might need a specific piece of knowledge, or just a moment to let the connection land.

Blue (Harder)

Wordplay, double meanings, misdirection. Words end up here specifically because they look like they belong somewhere else.

Purple (Hardest)

Almost always some kind of twist: a phrase pattern, a secondary meaning nobody saw coming, or words that spent the whole game disguised as yellow. Don't feel bad about this one.

Tips

  • Resist the urge to guess right away. Read all 16 words first. One you haven't noticed yet can completely change how you see the board.
  • Start with the category you're most sure about, usually yellow. Getting a group off the board clears up words that might have been confusing you.
  • Think about words in multiple ways. "ROCK, POP, JAZZ, SWING" might not be music genres. They might all come before or after the same word. If a group isn't clicking as a category, try thinking about phrases instead.
  • Pay attention to "one away" messages. If you get one, it means three of your four words are correct and only one needs to be swapped. Try switching out a different word and submitting again. If you get "one away" a second time after swapping, there's roughly a 79% chance that your original three words were correct all along and you've just been swapping in the wrong fourth word both times. There's only about a 21% chance the new word you added is actually right. When that happens, keep those three words and look for a completely different fourth word from the board.
  • Leave purple for last. Solve the other three categories first and the purple answer usually becomes obvious once the red herrings are gone. Guessing on purple early is a fast way to burn all your mistakes.

What Connections+ Offers

Connections+ is built for people who want more than just today's puzzle.

  • Community puzzles are made by other players, so there's always something new to try. There's a vibrant community of custom created games that are shared in the NYT Connections subreddit as well.
  • The Create page lets you build your own puzzle and share it with a link.
  • Unlimited lives mode lets you keep playing past four mistakes to see how the board was supposed to work out, and you can reveal the answer if you give up.
  • Multi-select mode lets you select words for multiple categories at the same time and submit them all at once. You'll enter this mode when you select more than 4 clues on the board.

FAQ

How many mistakes do you get?

Four. On Connections+, you can keep going past that if you want to see how the rest of the board resolves.

Is it free?

Completely. No account required, no paywall.

What time does the new puzzle come out?

Midnight ET.

Can I make my own puzzle?

Yes, go to the Create page to create your own puzzle. Share a link when you're done.

Why is Connections so popular?

It's the 2nd most played NYT game after Wordle. The rules take about thirty seconds to understand, the shared daily board gives everyone something to talk about, and the difficulty curve (from obvious yellow to brutal purple) keeps it interesting even after months and years of playing. It's the perfect morning ritual.

Ready to try it? Play Connections #1 or head back to today's game.