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.
NYT Connections today (game #518) - today's words
Today's NYT Connections words are…
- RAVEN
- GOLFER
- PILOT
- PENDULUM
- DRUM
- USHER
- SALOON DOORS
- CASK
- COWBOY
- CYLINDER
- STEER
- JET
- TANK
- RAM
- SWING
- SHEPHERD
NYT Connections today (game #518) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- Yellow: Could hold beer, oil etc
- Green: Show the way
- Blue: Bear is another
- Purple: They make a side-to-side motion
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 #518) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: BARREL-SHAPED CONTAINER
- GREEN: GUIDE
- BLUE: N.F.L. TEAM MEMBER
- PURPLE: THINGS THAT SWING
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #518) - the answers
The answers to today's Connections, game #518, are…
- YELLOW: BARREL-SHAPED CONTAINER CASK, CYLINDER, DRUM, TANK
- GREEN: GUIDE PILOT, SHEPHERD, STEER, USHER
- BLUE: N.F.L. TEAM MEMBER COWBOY, JET, RAM, RAVEN
- PURPLE: THINGS THAT SWING GOLFER, PENDULUM, SALOON DOORS, SWING
- My rating: Easy
- My score: Perfect
I can't help thinking it's a bit of a cop out for the NYT to include the word SWING in a group where the answer is, um, SWING. I mean come on! This was the purple group, too, so supposedly the hardest of the four.
Admittedly, the others were easier still. Blue – the second toughest – was N.F.L. TEAM MEMBER, and even a UK soccer/cricket fan such as myself could spot that COWBOY, JET, RAM and RAVEN were the answers. Green, meanwhile, was simply four things that were all BARREL-SHAPED CONTAINERs: CASK, CYLINDER, DRUM and TANK. My finger hovered over the submit button with that one, because I thought it couldn't possibly be as easy as that. But it was, and for once I completed this game with no trauma.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, 9 November, game #517)
- YELLOW: CONTORTED BENT, GNARLY, TWISTED, WARPED
- GREEN: SMALLEST AMOUNT LICK, OUNCE, SHRED, TRACE
- BLUE: ALGEBRA TERMS EXPONENT, POWER, RADICAL, ROOT
- PURPLE: WORDS BEFORE “ROOM” TO MEAN LAVATORY BATH, POWDER, REST, THRONE
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.
