Discover Crucial Links in the NYT’s Latest Piece - Connect and Comprehend August 12 Update (#427)

Quick Links

• What Is Connections?
• Hints for Today’s Connections Groups
• Today’s NYT Connections Answers
• How Did We Solve This Connections Game?
• How Do You Guess Connections Groups?

Connections is a game from the New York Times that challenges you to find the association between words. It sounds easy, but it isn’t—Connections categories can be almost anything, and they’re usually quite specific. If you need a hand getting the answers, we’ve got you covered.

What Is Connections?

Connections is a game from the New York Times. The objective is simple: sort 16 words into groups of 4. Each group of words will be connected by some common idea or theme. That common element could be anything. We have seen everything from games that rely on the number of letters in the words to categories that require you to spot an extra letter at the end of the word. Sometimes they’re references to economics, other times they reference fairy tales. There is no telling what sort of association there will be between words.

Once you’re confident you understand the connection, select 4 words, then hit “Submit.” You have only four attempts in total, so don’t be too guess-happy.

Hints for Today’s Connections Groups

Here are a few hints for the 427th Connections game to get you started:

• Yellow: Aluminum, Silver
• Green: You need blankets and sheets for these.
• Blue: What you might find in a bathroom.
• Purple: Implements for cutting.

If you still need help, the actual group names are:

• Yellow: Metal Elements
• Green: Mattress Sizes
• Blue: Slang for Toilet
• Purple: Kinds of Knives

Today’s NYT Connections Answers

Metal Elements (Yellow):

Gold, Lead, Mercury, Tin

Mattress Sizes (Green):

Full, King, Queen, Twin

Slang for Toilet (Blue):

Can, Head, John, Throne

Kinds of Knives (Purple):

Bowie, Butcher, Butter, Butterfly

How Did We Solve This Connections Game?

Today’s game was another very literal one, which made it pretty easy.

I first noticed the words Mercury and Bowie, which sent me down the wrong path entirely, as I was looking for more words that could be the last names of vocalists.

When that turned up nothing, I switched gears and started looking for other metals, which was much more productive. Gold, lead, mercury, and tin are all metallic elements specifically, rather than alloys (like bronze). They were in the Yellow group, “Metal Elements.”

King, queen, and throne threw me off for a little while too, but I eventually realized that king and queen are also both bed sizes. Jumping tracks from “royalty” to “Mattresses Sizes,” full and twin were really the only other options. King, queen, twin, and full were in the green group, “Mattress Sizes.”

Returning to bowie, I started skimming for what words might fit in a group with it. Butcher and butter both made me think of knives—which also works with bowie—and a butterfly knife is also a type of knife. Those 4 words were in the Purple group, “Kinds of Knives.”

That left can, head, john, and throne. My first thought was “euphemisms for toilet,” but almost couldn’t believe it. However, that turned out to be right—the Blue group was “Slang for Toilet.”

How Do You Guess Connections Groups?

There is no quick, reliable way to approach Connections like there is with Wordle, since Connections isn’t algorithmic. However, there are a few things to keep in mind that can help.

1. Look for similar parts of speech. Are some words verbs and others nouns? Are some adjectives? Try mentally grouping them based on those categories and see if any other patterns jump out at you.
2. Are the words synonyms? Sometimes categories will just be synonyms for a phrase, or very close to synonyms. Don’t rely too closely on this, though. Occasionally, Connections will deliberately throw in words that are sometimes synonyms to mislead you.
3. Try saying the words. Sometimes, saying the words helps. One puzzle we saw included the words go, rate, faster, clip, pace, speed, move, commute, and hurry—all of which are obviously related to the idea of motion. However, when you say them, it becomes a little more obvious that only four (go, move, hurry, faster) are things you’d actually say to prompt someone to get moving.
4. Expect the red herring . Connections usually has words that could be plausibly, yet incorrectly, grouped together. Take the words Bud, Corona, and Light, as an example. You might instinctively see those three words together and assume they’re lumped together in a category related to beer—but they weren’t.
5. Look for distinct words. If a word on your board doesn’t have multiple meanings or can really only be used in one context, try using that word as the basis for a category.
6. Shuffle the board. Sometimes, moving words around will help you look at them in new ways.

If you didn’t solve this one, don’t feel too bad—there’s always tomorrow! And those words may align with a topic you’re interested in, giving you a leg up on the competition.