Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.
What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Wordle hints and answers, Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
Marc is TechRadar’s Global Editor in Chief and has been obsessed with Wordle and its ilk for more than two years. He's authored dozens of articles on the game for TechRadar, including a daily today's Wordle answer column and a detailed analysis of the most common letters in Wordle in every position. He's also played every Wordle ever and only lost once and yes, he takes it all too seriously.
NYT Connections today (game #539) - today's words
Today's NYT Connections words are…
- SOLO
- JERSEY
- WILLY
- WONKA
- YORK
- HAVEN
- KINDER
- BIRD
- PADS
- CHARMS
- PORT
- HELMET
- RETREAT
- FALLIN'
- CLEATS
- SHELTER
NYT Connections today (game #539) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- Yellow: Somewhere safe
- Green: Locker room kit
- Blue: Sweet treats
- Purple: [not costing anything] blank
Need more clues?
We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #539) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: SANCTUARY
- GREEN FOOTBALL GEAR
- BLUE: CANDY NAMES
- PURPLE: “FREE ___”
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #539) - the answers
The answers to today's Connections, game #539, are…
- YELLOW: SANCTUARY HAVEN, PORT, RETREAT, SHELTER
- GREEN FOOTBALL GEAR CLEATS, HELMET, JERSEY, PADS
- BLUE: CANDY NAMES CHARMS, KINDER, WONKA, YORK
- PURPLE: “FREE ___” BIRD, FALLIN’, SOLO, WILLY
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 2 mistakes
It's now a part of my Connections routine that I look for anything related to one of three sports: football of the American variety, baseball, or occasionally basketball. Playing to the crowd there, NYT, well done. Anyway, predictable though it is, it did give me a way into this game once I'd already solved the very easy yellow group, SANCTUARY.
The football group was simply FOOTBALL GEAR, with CLEATS, HELMET, JERSEY, PADS, which left me with eight more to choose from and place in two collections. But what were they? Well, I only needed one of course, which was just as well given that I would never have got one of them.
The one I didn't get was blue – CANDY NAMES, because I've not heard of any of them other than KINDER (which is available outside of the US). WONKA was familiar, obviously, but I thought it was only fictional. The other two… not a clue.
The one I did get was “FREE ___”, mainly because FREE WILLY was one of the few connections I could make with that word, and I then realized that FREE BIRD and FREE FALLIN' also worked. I wasn't sure about SOLO, but it sounded familiar and it turns out it was a 2018 film that I haven't watched but that I have heard of. Tough going today, but I got there eventually.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, 30 November, game #538)
- YELLOW: DANCE STYLES JAZZ, MODERN, SWING, TAP
- GREEN: STEAL LIFT, PALM, POCKET, SWIPE
- BLUE: PERFORM WELL ON ACE, CRUSH, NAIL, ROCK
- PURPLE: ___BALL PITCHES CURVE, FAST, KNUCKLE, SCREW
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
