Good morning! Let’s play Connections, the NYT’s clever word game that challenges you to group answers into different categories. It can be tricky, so read on if you need pointers.
What should you do when you’re done? Of course, play some word games. I also have daily Strands Hints and Answers and Quordle Hints and Answers articles if you need help with those too, while Marc’s Wordle Today page covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about today’s NYT Connections is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
NYT Connections Today (Game #565) – Today’s Words
Today’s words from NYT Connections are…
- CRANE
- UNICORN
- IRONS
- BACON
- PRESS
- PHOENIX
- AUTO
- HORN BLOWER
- BRIDGES
- AFRICA
- TOAST
- WASHINGTON
- GRUTTS
- HITS
- HASH
- CLICK
NYT Connections Today (Game #565) – Hint #1 – Group Hints
What are some pointers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Basic food for the morning meal
- VEGETABLES: On/off
- BLUE: Beep beep
- PURPLE: And the prize goes to…
Need more clues?
We’re firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four themed answers are for today’s NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections Today (Game #565) – Hint #2 – Group Answers
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: BREAKFAST SIDES
- GREEN: PRESS, AS A BUTTON
- BLUE: THEY HAVE A HORN
- PURPLE: OSCAR WINNING ACTORS
Okay, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections Today (Game #565) – The Answers
The answers to today’s Connections game, game #565, are…
- YELLOW: BREAKFAST SIDES BACON, GRITS, HASH, TOAST
- GREEN: PRESS, AS A BUTTON CLICK, HITS, PRESS, TAP
- BLUE: THEY HAVE A HORN AFRICA, BUGLER, CAR, UNICORN
- PURPLE: OSCAR WINNING ACTORS BRIDGES, IRONS, PHOENIX, WASHINGTON
- My rating: Moderate
- My score: 1 mistake
My first thought when I saw PHOENIX and IRONS on the grid was the actors River and Jeremy. I spent ages trying to figure out what movies they were in together (I later found out there aren’t any, but they were both in the Shakespearean TV drama The hollow crown). I then convinced myself that they must be connected to Denzil WASHINGTON and Kevin BACON and took out the dreaded “one”.
After connecting the breakfast items, I found the right group for BACON and the rest clicked into place.
The blue group completely threw me. While it is true that they have a horn, the type that Africa has is very different from the type you find in a car. That’s the random beauty of Connections.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections answers (Thursday, December 26, game #564)
- YELLOW: APPROXIMATELY APPROXIMATE, ROUND, LIKE, ROUGH
- GREEN: TREES PARENT, PALM, PINE, FIR
- BLUE: LARGE, AS AMOUNT Handsome, healthy, respectable, neat
- PURPLE: US STATE ABBREVIATIONS, ACCORDING TO AP STYLE GUIDE ALA, ARK, MISS, ORE
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of the New York Times’ increasingly popular word games. It challenges you to find groups of four items that have something in common, and each group has a different level of difficulty: green is easy, yellow is slightly harder, blue is often quite hard, and purple is usually very hard.
On the plus side, you technically don’t have to solve the last question because you can answer it by a process of elimination. Plus, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you some breathing room.
It’s a bit more complicated than something like Wordle, though, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For example, beware of homophones and other word games that can obscure the answers.
It is playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.