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 #553) - today's words
Today's NYT Connections words are…
- THUMB
- KEY
- LEAF
- STYLE
- MACE
- MAR
- FLAIL
- FLIP
- SPEAR
- CLOVE
- TANK
- PEPPER
- RIFFLE
- FLOUNDER
- NUTMEG
- FLOP
NYT Connections today (game #553) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Seasonings
- GREEN: Below par
- BLUE: Browsing
- PURPLE: Popular vocalists
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 #553) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: SPICES
- GREEN: PERFORM POORLY
- BLUE: SKIM THROUGH, AS PAGES
- PURPLE: POP SINGERS MINUS "S"
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #553) - the answers
The answers to today's Connections, game #553, are…
- YELLOW: SPICES CLOVE, MACE, NUTMEG, PEPPER
- GREEN: PERFORM POORLY FLAIL, FLOP, FLOUNDER, TANK
- BLUE: SKIM THROUGH, AS PAGES FLIP, LEAF, RIFFLE, THUMB
- PURPLE: POP SINGERS MINUS "S" KEY, MAR, SPEAR, STYLE
- My rating: Easy
- My score: Perfect
As someone who is known to PERFORM BADLY at Connections, it’s no surprise that I landed on the Green group first today – although I did momentarily think the connection was “Things you do when drunk”.
POP SINGERS MINUS “S” was a good one, especially as SPEAR could have been a weapon along with RIFLE and MACE.
I’m off to listen to Empire State of Mind.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, 14 December, game #552)
- YELLOW: FISH FLUKE, MULLET, SOLE, TANG
- GREEN: WORDS IN AN AUCTION-ENDING PHRASE GOING, ONCE, SOLD, TWICE
- BLUE: GLOBAL CURRENCIES POUND, REAL, SOL, YUAN
- PURPLE: WORDS BEFORE "CUP" BUTTER, DIVA, SOLO, WORLD
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.
