Each day’s game of NYT Connections goes live at midnight local time. Before today’s NYT Connections hints, here’s what you missed on Tuesday:
It’s Wednesday, and you know what that means: it’s time for another game of Connections!
I recently forwarded a package to friends in another country since they couldn’t import the items they were ordering directly (nothing untoward, I promise!). As a thank you, they sent me a care package, which they absolutely did not have to do. I was more than happy to just help them out.
One of the items they sent me was a small Lego kit. Fun! You can use it to assemble a space shuttle. Or two other builds. Oh no, it’s a three-in-one kit. I have been cursed with having to make a decision about which build to go for. Very kind of them to send this to me, don’t get me wrong. But I’m now worried I’ll never choose which option to actually build and just leave it in the box.
Before we start, I want to highlight the rad community we have on Discord, where we chat about Connections, the rest of the NYT games and all kinds of other stuff. It’s a lovely group of folks. You’re more than welcome to join us.
Also, my weekend editions of this column are available over on my newsletter, Pastimes. If you enjoy the intros and recommendations in my Connections columns, I publish longer pieces along similar lines on Pastimes as well. I think you’d dig them.
Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, April 22 are coming right up. Let’s get rolling!
NYT Connections – How To Play
Connections is a free New York Times daily word game that you can play on the NYT’s website or Games app. If you have an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the Connections archive, which includes every previous game.
Connections presents you with a grid of 16 words (sometimes phrases, symbols or numbers). The aim is to arrange them into four groups of four. You don’t know how they hit together or what the category for each group is: that’s what you have to figure out.
There’s only one correct solution and there are often red herrings. You can guess incorrectly three times. A fourth wrong guess, and it’s game over.
Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to deduce, followed by blue, green and purple. Often, the yellow and green groups have synonyms, the blues have cultural references and the purples have some kind of wordplay involved. But this is not a hard and fast rule. Be ready for curveballs – part of the fun of Connections is in how the NYT shakes things up to keep you on your toes.
As with Wordle and similar games, it’s easy to share results with your friends using an emoji-based grid. The game tracks your progress too.
Many players take pride in having long win streaks or getting a reverse rainbow – correctly guessing the purple, blue, green and yellow groups in that order with no mistakes. That adds an extra little challenge.
NYT Connections Hints – Today’s Word List
Scroll slowly! I’ll first give you a list of today’s words, then a hint for each category. After that, I’ll reveal one word that goes into each group. Then I’ll tell you the category names, followed by the full answers.
Today’s 16 words are…
- TRUCK
- POLISH
- NICE
- SLUG
- DECK
- GAME
- WHEEL
- HERB
- CLAY
- SOCK
- READING
- ARTIST
- STICKS
- GLAZE
- PUNCH
- KILN
NYT Connections Hints
And the hints for today’s Connections groups are:
- 🟨 Yellow group — firing is a positive action here
- 🟩 Green group — often carried out in a boxing match
- 🟦 Blue group — like a great, sad song, these might sound different depending on the context
- 🟪 Purple group — well, don’t just leave these on the floor!
NYT Connections Hints – One Answer Per Group
Need some extra help?
Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.
Let’s take a look at one answer for each group.
Here we go…
- 🟨 Yellow group — WHEEL
- 🟩 Green group — SLUG
- 🟦 Blue group — NICE
- 🟪 Purple group —ARTIST
NYT Connections Hints – Groups/Categories
Today’s Connections groups are…
- 🟨 Yellow group — pottery equipment
- 🟩 Green group — wallop
- 🟦 Blue group — words pronounced different ways as proper nouns
- 🟪 Purple group — pick-up _____
NYT Connections Answers
Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.
This is your last chance to look away.
This is your final warning!
Today’s Connections answers are…
- 🟨 Yellow group — pottery equipment (CLAY, GLAZE, KILN, WHEEL)
- 🟩 Green group — wallop (DECK, PUNCH, SLUG, SOCK)
- 🟦 Blue group — words pronounced different ways as proper nouns (HERB, NICE, POLISH, READING)
- 🟪 Purple group — pick-up _____ (ARTIST, GAME, STICKS, TRUCK)
I got the pottery-related words first, in part because I’m looking forward to a new video game called KILN that’s out this week. I got the greens after that. I feel like we had a similar group not too long ago?
STICKS and TRUCK helped me figure out the purples. The blues didn’t quite land for me (even though I was already thinking of POLISH as the nationality) because I’m Scottish and I pronounce HERB the same way in both contexts.
Anyway! Regional dialect differences aside, that’s my 417th victory in a row.
How did you get on today? Here’s my grid:
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦
Want to know more about how everything fits together? Let’s explore today’s game in more depth in my NYT Connections Answers Explained column right here:
That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to check my blog tomorrow for hints and the solution for Thursday’s game if you need them.
P.S. Here’s a midweek jolt of punk energy for you. I heard “No Cigar” by Millencolin on an Instagram story recently. It instantly took me back to my youth and playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 as this song was on the soundtrack. I’m very much looking forward to attending Warped Tour this summer:
Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!
Please follow my blog for more NYT Connections hints and help with other word games, and even some video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me out a lot! Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. You can also read my weekend editions of this column at my newsletter, Pastimes.
