July 16Th New York Times Puzzles Decoded - Exclusive Hints and Solutions to Challenge #401!

Quick Links

• What Is Connections?
• Hints for Today’s Connections Groups
• Today’s NYT Connections Answers
• How Did We Solve This Connections Game?
• How Do You Guess Connections Groups?

Connections is a game from the New York Times that challenges you to find the association between words. It sounds easy, but it isn’t—Connections categories can be almost anything, and they’re usually quite specific. If you need a hand getting the answers, we’ve got you covered.

What Is Connections?

Connections is a game from the New York Times. The objective is simple: sort 16 words into groups of 4. Each group of words will be connected by some common idea or theme. That common element could be anything. We have seen everything from games that rely on the number of letters in the words to categories that require you to spot an extra letter at the end of the word. Sometimes they’re references to economics, other times they reference fairy tales. There is no telling what sort of association there will be between words.

Once you’re confident you understand the connection, select 4 words, then hit “Submit.” You have only four attempts in total, so don’t be too guess-happy.

Hints for Today’s Connections Groups

Here are a few hints for the 401st Connections game to get you started:

• Yellow: Also cranky.
• Green: A prototype.
• Blue: There is singing involved in these.
• Purple: A name that starts with a P.

If you still need help, the actual group names are:

• Yellow: In a Bad Mood
• Green: Experimental
• Blue: Starts of Broadway Musicals
• Purple: Peter _____

Today’s NYT Connections Answers

In a Bad Moon (Yellow):

Cross, Short, Surly, Testy

Experimental (Green):

Exploratory, Pilot, Preliminary, Trial

Starts of Broadway Musicals (Blue):

Fiddler, Jersey, Kinky, Merrily

Peter ____ (Purple):

Pan, Parker, Piper, Rabbit

How Did We Solve This Connections Game?

July 16th was a pretty average game, but Blue might be tough unless you’re into musicals.

Cross and testy immediately struck me as synonyms for cranky, so I started looking for other words that might match that idea. It wasn’t long before I settled on short (as in short-tempered) and testy. Those 4 words belonged to the Yellow group, “In a Bad Mood.”

I shuffled a few times, and pan, parker, and rabbit all lined up. That struck me as odd, but it took (once again) saying them out loud for me to realize they all go with the name “Peter.” From there, it was easy to pick piper as the final word. The Purple group was “Peter ____.”

Exploratory, pilot, preliminary, and trial are all pretty straight forward synonyms for “Experimental,” “Prototype,” “Pathfinder,” or something else in that vein. They were in the Green group, which was “Experimental.”

That left Fiddler, Jersey, Kinky, and Merrily—unconnected words if ever I’ve seen any. Eventually, I realized they were the first words in the titles of musicals. Fiddler on the Roof, Jersey Boys, Kinky Boots, and Merrily We Roll Along. Blue was “Starts of Broadway Musicals.”

How Do You Guess Connections Groups?

There is no quick, reliable way to approach Connections like there is with Wordle, since Connections isn’t algorithmic. However, there are a few things to keep in mind that can help.

1. Look for similar parts of speech. Are some words verbs and others nouns? Are some adjectives? Try mentally grouping them based on those categories and see if any other patterns jump out at you.
2. Are the words synonyms? Sometimes categories will just be synonyms for a phrase, or very close to synonyms. Don’t rely too closely on this, though. Occasionally, Connections will deliberately throw in words that are sometimes synonyms to mislead you.
3. Try saying the words. Sometimes, saying the words helps. One puzzle we saw included the words go, rate, faster, clip, pace, speed, move, commute, and hurry—all of which are obviously related to the idea of motion. However, when you say them, it becomes a little more obvious that only four (go, move, hurry, faster) are things you’d actually say to prompt someone to get moving.
4. Expect the red herring . Connections usually has words that could be plausibly, yet incorrectly, grouped together. Take the words Bud, Corona, and Light, as an example. You might instinctively see those three words together and assume they’re lumped together in a category related to beer—but they weren’t.
5. Look for distinct words. If a word on your board doesn’t have multiple meanings or can really only be used in one context, try using that word as the basis for a category.
6. Shuffle the board. Sometimes, moving words around will help you look at them in new ways.

If you didn’t solve this one, don’t feel too bad—there’s always tomorrow! And those words may align with a topic you’re interested in, giving you a leg up on the competition.

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