The latest New York Times Connections puzzle (#937) is live, and many players are seeking help. This guide provides hints and full solutions for today’s challenge, along with tips to improve your game. The puzzle requires identifying four groups of four words connected by a common theme.
Today’s Hints
The Times categorizes puzzles by difficulty, with yellow being easiest and purple hardest. Here are hints for each group:
- Yellow: Military hierarchy.
- Green: Types of trousers.
- Blue: Chart-topping songs by a specific artist.
- Purple: Fill-in-the-blank phrases involving moisture.
Today’s Solutions
The NYT Connections puzzle is designed to test lateral thinking. Here are the correct groupings:
- Yellow Group: Captain, General, Major, Private. These represent ranks within the armed forces.
- Green Group: Jean, Jogger, Overall, Slack. All are singular forms of clothing worn on the legs.
- Blue Group: Diamonds, SOS, Umbrella, Work. These are all number-one singles by the artist Rihanna.
- Purple Group: Bar, Blanket, Nurse, Willy. These complete the phrase “wet [blank]”.
Strategy and Tools
The Times offers a Connections Bot to analyze your solutions, providing a score and tracking your performance. This feature is available for registered users of the Games section.
To improve your gameplay:
- Vocalize the clues: Saying the words aloud can reveal underlying connections. The puzzle editors frequently use phrases where words appear in similar contexts.
- Avoid immediate assumptions: The Times intentionally avoids obvious groupings to challenge players.
- Break down compound words: Look for shared roots or initial letters. A previous puzzle included “Rushmore”, where the connection was that each word began with a rock band’s name.
The puzzle tests pattern recognition and lateral thinking, encouraging players to think outside the box. The difficulty increases with each group, making the purple category the most challenging.
