Not the Connections game you’re looking for? Here are the hints and solution for Thursday’s game and an explanation of the answers:
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Hey there, Connectors! The weekend is almost upon us. Let’s make sure you get there with your Connections streak intact.
It should be a good game when Spain and Argentina contest the men’s World Cup final on Sunday. I’m hoping Spain take it, in part because that means a food delivery app will grant me some credits.
It’s a pity that my knowledge of Spanish is non-existent, though, since I won’t be able to fully join in with the banter. I’ll just have to settle with riling up fans of a certain other team that lost a couple of days ago using my various anonymous social media profiles.
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Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, July 17 are coming right up. Let’s get rolling!
How To Play Connections
Connections is a free daily New York Times game that challenges you to arrange a grid of 16 words, phrases or symbols into four groups. The categories can involve anything from simple synonyms and cultural references to words that start with homonyms for birds.
There’s only one correct answer. Connections often features red herrings and other tricks like wordplay. You can make three mistakes, but a fourth spells game over and the end of your current streak!
The categories are color coded. Yellow is supposed to be the easiest to figure out, followed by green, blue and then purple. But it’s all relative as Connections tests your knowledge and deductive reasoning skills.
You can track your stats over time and earn badges for achievements like lengthy streaks or achieving a reverse rainbow. This involves submitting the purple category first, followed by blue, green and yellow. I’m here to help players figure out which is which.
You can play Connections on the NYT website or NYT Games app. NYT subscribers can access the full archive of more than 1,100 games of Connections. Each day’s game goes live at midnight local time.
Today’s NYT Connections Word List
Scroll slowly!
After today’s Connections word list, I’ll give you a hint for each category. After that, I’ll reveal one word that goes into each group. Then I’ll reveal the categories, followed by the full answers.
Got it? Cool.
Today’s 16 words are…
- CRANE GAME
- SATIRES
- TICKETS
- CARDINAL DIRECTIONS
- SWAN SONG
- SUITS
- ROBIN HOOD
- PLOT SPOILER
- TREE TRUNK
- TOKENS
- SEASONS
- EPILOGUE
- LAST DANCE
- CLASSICAL ELEMENTS
- FAREWELL
- PINBALL
A Hint For Today’s Connections Groups
The hints for today’s Connections categories are:
- 🟩 Green group — hallmarks of a recreational venue, hopefully without a fire in sight
- 🟦 Blue group — like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters, gas giants in the Milky Way and men’s golf majors
- 🟪 Purple group — you might need these to reach your destination
One Answer For Each Connections Group
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 — LAST DANCE
- 🟩 Green group — TICKETS
- 🟦 Blue group — SUITS
- 🟪 Purple group — ROBIN HOOD
Today’s Connections Categories
Today’s Connections groups are…
- 🟨 Yellow group — grand finale
- 🟩 Green group — seen in an arcade
- 🟦 Blue group — four groups of four
- 🟪 Purple group — ending in parts of a car
What Is Today’s Connections Answer?
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 — grand finale (EPILOGUE, FAREWELL, LAST DANCE, SWAN SONG)
- 🟩 Green group — seen in an arcade (CRANE GAME, PINBALL, TICKETS, TOKENS)
- 🟦 Blue group — four groups of four (CARDINAL DIRECTIONS, CLASSICAL ELEMENTS, SEASONS, SUITS)
- 🟪 Purple group — ending in parts of a car (PLOT SPOILER, ROBIN HOOD, SATIRES, TREE TRUNK)
The bird red herring caught me out. Rats. At least that meant SWAN SONG had to go with the endings to lock down the yellows.
At that point, I realized what was up with ROBIN HOOD. It took me a moment to figure out that SATIRES was the fourth word I needed.
PINBALL and TOKENS led me toward the greens. That left the blues for the win. I didn’t quite figure out that category, but I’ll take a 502nd win in a row.
How did you get on this time? 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. You can check that out by visiting my author page.
That brings my current weekday run of Connections hints and answers to a close. I’ll be back with you for more here on Monday. In the meantime, you can read my weekend editions of this column and more of my writing at my newsletter, Pastimes.
P.S. Rather than go with with an Arcade Fire song (after referencing them in my green hint), I’m going to wrap up my little theme week of new-to-me covers of songs I love. I don’t quite understand how I’d never heard Willie Nelson’s take on “Always On My Mind,” which was popularized by Elvis Presley, because it’s great. I love the Pet Shop Boys’ version too, but I’m sticking by my self-imposed rules for this pick:
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. I’d really appreciate that as it helps me out. If you share this column with others who play Connections, that would be lovely too.
