The week starts with a straightforward Connections puzzle that doesn't hold too many dangers. That doesn't make it easy, though – because the NYT's word game is fiendishly difficult even on a good day. Read on for some hints.
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.
NYT Connections today (game #393) - today's words
Today's NYT Connections words are…
- CANINE
- TRICK
- SPIRIT
- OZONE
- OFTEN
- POINTER
- WILL
- VISIT
- FREQUENT
- RESOLVE
- HAUNT
- TIP
- GRIT
- SUGGESTION
- FREIGHT
- PATRONIZE
NYT Connections today (game #393) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- Yellow: Try this
- Green: Tough it out
- Blue: Be here now
- Purple: Hidden figures
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 #393) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: BIT OF ADVICE
- GREEN: FORTITUDE
- BLUE: SPEND TIME AT
- PURPLE: WORDS ENDING IN NUMBERS
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #393) - the answers
The answers to today's Connections, game #393, are…
- YELLOW: BIT OF ADVICE POINTER, SUGGESTION, TIP, TRICK
- GREEN: FORTITUDE GRIT, RESOLVE, SPIRIT, WILL
- BLUE: SPEND TIME AT FREQUENT, HAUNT, PATRONIZE, VISIT
- PURPLE: WORDS ENDING IN NUMBERS CANINE, FREIGHT, OFTEN, OZONE
- My rating: Easy
- My score: Perfect
The key to Connections is often thinking about the words in multiple ways. By that I mean that they might assemble with others to form a group of related things, or they might all be synonyms for one other word, or they might be homophones, or they might all have one common letter that goes before or after. There's also one other type that sometimes comes up: which is hidden words within them.
It's important to always bear this in mind when solving, because merely looking for obvious groups will rarely work. Today, for instance, the green group, which was the first I solved, was indeed synonyms for fortitude. The yellow one was similar – 'bits of advice', and four words that meant that. Blue was also in that vein: 'Spend time at'. But purple was a different matter. That was one of the hidden words variety; in this case each of the four words contained a number, for instance OZONE has ONE within it, CANINE has NINE. Clever, eh? I'd never have got that connection if not thinking more laterally today, so it's approach I'll always try to take.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Sunday, 7 July, game #392)
- YELLOW: CHANGE STATES OF MATTER CONDENSE, FREEZE, MELT, VAPORIZE
- GREEN: REPLACEMENT ALTERNATE, BACKUP, COVER, SUB
- BLUE: SLANGY NAMES FOR PROFESSIONS COPPER, HACK, SHRINK, SUIT
- PURPLE: MARIAH CAREY NUMBER ONE HITS FANTASY, HERO, HONEY, SOMEDAY
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.
