1. Unlocking the Secrets of Today’s New York Times: Insightful Answers & Tips for June 8Th, Issue #363

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.

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Hints for Today’s Connections Groups

Here are a few hints for the 363rd Connections game to get you started:

• Yellow: When you find something very interesting.
• Green: Capture moving images.
• Blue: All the same letters.
• Purple: A synonym for beautiful goes before these words.

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

• Yellow: Grab One’s Attention
• Green: Document with Video
• Blue: Anagrams
• Purple: Pretty ______

Today’s NYT Connections Answers

Grab One’s Attention (Yellow):

Absorb, Engross, Hold, Rivet

Document with Video (Green):

Film, Record, Shoot, Tape

Anagrams (Blue):

Pastel, Petals, Pleats, Staple

Pretty_____ (Purple):

Good, Penny, Please, Woman

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How Did We Solve This Connections Game?

June 8th was closer to average than yesterday’s game.

The first word I latched on to was film. It can be a noun or a verb, but I chose to look for words that matched the verb definition first. That lead me straight to record, shoot, and tape—no hard twists here. Green was “Document with Video.”

Next, I looked at the word engross. When something is engrossing, it grabs your attention, so I looked for related ideas. Absorb can mean something similar, as in “I was absorbed in a book.” Hold is also easily related, as “something holds your attention.” Rivet is really the only odd one out, but something is often said to be “riveting” when it is very engaging or exciting. Together, absorb, engross, hold, and rivet made up the Yellow group, “Grab One’s Attention.”

Pastel, Petals, Pleats, and Staple all have the same letters, which seemed like too much of a coincidence to ignore, so I just threw them into a group. Blue was just “Anagrams.”

That left good, penny, please, and woman. I actually didn’t see the connection right away, but luckily I didn’t need to—Purple was “Pretty _______.”

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.