NYT Connections today — my hints and answers for Thursday, December 12 (game #550)

NYT Connections homescreen on a phone, on a purple background
(Image credit: New York Times)

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 Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #550) - today's words

NYT Connections hints for game 550 on a purple background

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

  • See picture for clues! But if you want a description…
  • Ice cream
  • Bed
  • Saw
  • Tee-shirt
  • Music notes
  • Gear
  • Rodents of some kind
  • Triangle
  • Zipper
  • Nuts
  • Hot drink in a cup
  • Multiple letter Gs
  • Mouth
  • Golf tee
  • Comb
  • Building with dollar sign

NYT Connections today (game #550) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

  • Yellow: The A-Team's 'Mr'
  • Green: They're not all for eating
  • Blue: How rude!
  • Purple: Watercourse elements

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 #550) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

  • YELLOW: THINGS THAT SOUND LIKE "T"
  • GREEN: OBJECTS WITH TEETH
  • BLUE: MILD OATHS
  • PURPLE: PARTS OF A RIVER

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #550) - the answers

NYT Connections answers for game 550 on a purple background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #550, are…

  • YELLOW: THINGS THAT SOUND LIKE "T" TEA, TEE (GOLF), TEE (SHIRT), TI (MUSICAL NOTE)
  • GREEN: OBJECTS WITH TEETH COMB, GEAR, SAW, ZIPPER
  • BLUE: MILD OATHS FUDGE, GEEZ, NUTS, RATS
  • PURPLE: PARTS OF A RIVER BANK, BED, DELTA, MOUTH

  • My rating: Impossible
  • My score: Fail

Oh come on, NYT! Seriously? This is just too hard to even remotely count as fun. Will anyone solve this today? Am I just stupid? Pictograms are fine as a concept, and yeah it's a welcome change from the normal Connections routine, shaking things up a bit – but if you're going to do this at least make it a little easier!

Or maybe I just got unlucky, because I was on the right path with a couple of today's groups. It's just that there were so many options that might have worked, I was left scrabbling around in the dark.

For instance, I spotted right away that SAW, ZIPPER, GEAR and COMB were all OBJECTS WITH TEETH, but so is a MOUTH, so I included that twice and lost a couple of guesses there. Ditto MILD OATHS; I had GEEZ (Gs), RATS and NUTS, but thought the fourth was D'OH as in Homer Simpson, based on the picture of a musical score with the word DO written on it. Trouble was, the arrow was pointing to a different note, and I don't read music so never realized that was actually a TI and instead went with a different group; the real final answer was FUDGE.

So actually yeah, let's talk about some of these pictures, because how was anyone supposed to know that bit near the top of the ice cream was FUDGE? It could be anything! It could be chocolate or strawberry sauce, it's not like this is a high-resolution photo. And as for DELTA… I mean that's a triangle.

I'm never playing this game again (until tomorrow).


Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, 11 December, game #549)

  • YELLOW: UTOPIA PARADISE, SEVENTH HEAVEN, SHANGRI-LA, XANADU
  • GREEN: THINGS YOU SHAKE HAIRSPRAY, MAGIC 8 BALL, SALAD DRESSING, SNOWGLOBE
  • BLUE: PROPER NOUN PORTMANTEAUX JAZZERCISE, PARALYMPICS, POKÉMON, WIKIPEDIA
  • PURPLE: ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "FRIEND" KETCHUM, PAYPAL, PRIMATE, ROSEBUD

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.

TOPICS
Contributor

Johnny is a freelance pop culture journalist who has been writing about the internet, music, football and famous people since the iPhone was just a twinkle in Steve Jobs' eye. Previously known by the pseudonym the Pop Detective, his journalistic career began making up stories about Madonna's addiction to sausage rolls (this is not true by the way). A man of few talents, his career is rich and various and includes the highs of interviewing Elton John and Blur; and the lows of interviewing Right Said Fred, appearing on a Channel 5 documentary about Peter Kay, and fact-checking the instruction manual for a German cooker. Somehow still affording to live in North London he is at his happiest riding his bicycle and shouting at pigeons.

With contributions from
Read more
NYT Connections homescreen on a phone, on a purple background
NYT Connections today — my hints and answers for Tuesday, January 28 (game #597)
NYT Connections homescreen on a phone, on a purple background
NYT Connections today — my hints and answers for Sunday, January 5 (game #574)
NYT Connections homescreen on a phone, on a purple background
NYT Connections today — my hints and answers for Tuesday, December 17 (game #555)
NYT Connections homescreen on a phone, on a purple background
NYT Connections today — my hints and answers for Sunday, December 29 (game #567)
NYT Connections homescreen on a phone, on a purple background
NYT Connections today — my hints and answers for Monday, December 30 (game #568)
NYT Connections homescreen on a phone, on a purple background
NYT Connections today — my hints and answers for Saturday, December 28 (game #566)
Latest in Gaming
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
With discounts of up to 95%, these are the biggest deals I've managed to find in the Steam Spring Sale
WWE 2K25
I've spent days in the ring with WWE 2K25, and it's like a five-star match ruined by the Million Dollar Man
Asus ROG Ally using Steam
I think Asus could be the perfect partner for an Xbox handheld – but I have questions
NYT Connections homescreen on a phone, on a purple background
NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, March 15 (game #643)
Rainbow Six Siege X promotional art.
The Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege X 6v6 mode might finally pull me away from Black Ops 6
Atelier Yumia
I was already sold on Atelier Yumia as an RPG, but I wasn’t expecting it to have my favorite crafting system in all of gaming
Latest in News
Super Mario Odyssey
ChatGPT is the ultimate gaming tool - here's 4 ways you can use AI to help with your next playthrough
Brad Pitt looks over his right shoulder with 'F1' written behind him
Apple Original Films will take you behind-the-scenes of a racing cockpit in this new thrilling F1 movie trailer
AI writer
Coding AI tells developer to write it himself
Reacher looking down at another character from the Prime Video TV series Reacher
Reacher season 3 becomes Prime Video’s biggest returning show thanks to Hollywood’s biggest heavyweight
Finger Presses Orange Button Domain Name Registration on Black Keyboard Background. Closeup View
I visited the world’s first registered .com domain – and you won’t believe what it’s offering today
Image showing detail of the Leica D-Lux 8
Still can't get a Fujifilm X100VI? This premium Leica compact costs less, and it's in stock