It's time to play Thursday's Connections puzzle from the NYT. This is a reasonably tough one – so read on for my 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 #431) - today's words
Today's NYT Connections words are…
- MATCH
- PHONE
- BUD
- RANGE
- SIERRA
- DIRT
- MATE
- PAL
- REACH
- CHECK
- NATTY
- SCOPE
- COMPLEMENT
- STELLA
- EXTENT
- PARTNER
NYT Connections today (game #431) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- Yellow: As far as it goes
- Green: Goes together
- Blue: Tipple
- Purple: [word that means salary] blank
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 #431) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: BREADTH
- GREEN: OTHER HALF
- BLUE: BEERS, FAMILIARLY
- PURPLE: WORDS AFTER “PAY”
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #431) - the answers
The answers to today's Connections, game #431, are…
- YELLOW: BREADTH EXTENT, RANGE, REACH, SCOPE
- GREEN: OTHER HALF COMPLEMENT, MATCH, MATE, PARTNER
- BLUE: BEERS, FAMILIARLY BUD, NATTY, SIERRA, STELLA
- PURPLE: WORDS AFTER “PAY” CHECK, DIRT, PAL, PHONE
- My rating: Moderate
- My score: 1 mistake
Misdirection is a constant threat in Connections, which is one of the reasons why I always shuffle the answers as soon as I fire up the game; the NYT tends to put words next to each other at the start to make it look like they go together, when they don't.
Today, I guessed MATE, BUD, PAL, PARTNER as a group and was pretty shocked when they didn't form one answer. But as it happens, MATE and PARTNER were instead part of the 'Other half' group (with COMPLEMENT and MATCH), while BUD went in 'Beers' and PAL in the final 'Words after "Pay"' group.
Still, you get to make three mistakes in Connections (the fourth triggers a loss), so I had enough guesses left to solve this relatively tricky instalment of the game. I don't think I'd have got the blue group if not by default – I've never heard of NATTY or SIERRA as beers – but the purple one wasn't as bad as it sometimes is, so I got there in the end.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, 14 August, game #430)
- YELLOW: BLUNDER BOO-BOO, FLUB, GAFFE, GOOF
- GREEN: FLOWERS DAISY, JASMINE, PETUNIA, POPPY
- BLUE: THINGS BEES DO BUZZ, DANCE, POLLINATE, STING
- PURPLE: FIRST NAMES OF YANKEES LEGENDS BABE, LOU, MICKEY, YOGI
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.
