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 #473) - today's words
Today's NYT Connections words are…
- SWELL
- FRILL
- BIKINI
- WAX
- TRIM
- CHEESE
- NEAT
- BORDER
- GROW
- DRY
- BEAN
- VIRGIN
- THEORY
- STRAIGHT
- FRINGE
- MOUNT
NYT Connections today (game #473) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- Yellow: Pretty side to something
- Green: More and more
- Blue: How'd you take that?
- Purple: [like a thick thread] 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 #473) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: DECORATIVE EDGE
- GREEN: INCREASE, IN A WAY
- BLUE: SPECIFICATIONS FOR A BARTENDER
- PURPLE: STRING ___
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #473) - the answers
The answers to today's Connections, game #473, are…
- YELLOW: DECORATIVE EDGE BORDER, FRILL, FRINGE, TRIM
- GREEN: INCREASE, IN A WAY GROW, MOUNT, SWELL, WAX
- BLUE: SPECIFICATIONS FOR A BARTENDER DRY, NEAT, STRAIGHT, VIRGIN
- PURPLE: STRING ___ BEAN, BIKINI, CHEESE, THEORY
- My rating: Moderate
- My score: Perfect
Give me a group containing CHEESE and I pretty much guarantee I will solve it. Doesn't matter what the connection is – if it involves cheese, I'm up for the challenge. And so it was today with STRING ___, the hardest purple group, which I got with my very first guess, spotting that CHEESE, THEORY, BEAN and BIKINI could all go after STRING.
I've marked this Connections puzzle as moderate rather than easy, though, because despite not making any mistakes I did have to think a fair bit about the other three groups. Maybe I played slightly more conservatively than I sometimes do, but I stared and stared and stared at the board for what seemed like an hour (but was probably about five minutes) before spotting the yellow DECORATIVE EDGE group, then a little longer before getting SPECIFICATIONS FOR A BARTENDER.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, 25 September, game #472)
- YELLOW: TRIO OF SPORTS ACHIEVEMENTS HAT TRICK, THREEPEAT, TRIFECTA, TRIPLE CROWN
- GREEN: NEEDS FOR PAINTING A ROOM DROP CLOTH, PAINT, ROLLER, TAPE
- BLUE: FOOD NAMED AFTER CITIES BROIL, CHEESESTEAK, SPROUTS, WINGS
- PURPLE: ___ DERBY DEMOLITION, HOME RUN, KENTUCKY, SOAP BOX
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.
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