Here's your Connections puzzle for Sunday from the NYT. It's hard, as always, but not so tricky as some are – and I have hints if you need some below.
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 #406) - today's words
Today's NYT Connections words are…
- MAKEUP
- LEVEL
- TAN
- STUMP
- LOG
- STRUCTURE
- SAW
- FILE
- FABRIC
- CLAMP
- CANVASS
- MOD
- ORGANIZE
- CAMPAIGN
- MAX
- COMPOSITION
NYT Connections today (game #406) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- Yellow: Political aid
- Green: Made from
- Blue: Woodwork things
- Purple: On a calculator?
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 #406) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: WAYS TO SUPPORT A CANDIDATE
- GREEN: CONSTITUTION
- BLUE: CARPENTRY TOOLS
- PURPLE: MATH ABBREVIATIONS
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #406) - the answers
The answers to today's Connections, game #406, are…
- YELLOW: WAYS TO SUPPORT A CANDIDATE CAMPAIGN, CANVASS, ORGANIZE, STUMP
- GREEN: CONSTITUTION COMPOSITION, FABRIC, MAKEUP, STRUCTURE
- BLUE: CARPENTRY TOOLS CLAMP, FILE, LEVEL, SAW
- PURPLE: MATH ABBREVIATIONS LOG, MAX, MOD, TAN
- My rating: Moderate
- My score: 2 mistakes
I lost a couple of guesses on the blue 'CARPENTRY' group today, mistakenly thinking that either LOG or TAN might be connected. No, I don't know why; CLAMP, FILE, LEVEL and SAW make much more sense. But that aside, today's Connections wasn't too bad. After making those errors I looked elsewhere for a while and solved the green and yellow groups, neither of which were too tricky, and with the options reduced I was able to complete blue and not need to worry about purple.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, 20 July, game #405)
- YELLOW: EFFORTLESS FLUID, GRACEFUL, NATURAL, SMOOTH
- GREEN: EXERTION EFFORT, LABOR, SWEAT, WORK
- BLUE: ENERGY FOR AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE BATTERY, CHARGE, JUICE, POWER
- PURPLE: WHAT “POP” MIGHT MEAN BURST, DAD, MAINSTREAM, SODA
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.
