July 31St Insights: Unlocking the Secrets of Today’s New York Times Connection #416

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 416th Connections game to get you started:

• Yellow: Your voice when you’re sick.
• Green: Not your toes, but similar.
• Blue: Sorts of alcohol.
• Purple: A nation in Europe.

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

• Yellow: Raspy
• Green: Fingers
• Blue: Ale Styles
• Purple: French ______

Today’s NYT Connections Answers

Raspy (Yellow):

Gruff, Hoarse, Husky, Rough

Fingers (Green):

Little, Middle, Pointer, Ringer

Ale Styles (Blue):

Amber, Pointer, Sour, Stout

French _____ (Purple):

Bulldog, Fry, Horn, Kiss

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How Did We Solve This Connections Game?

July 31st was an average game.

I first spotted Blue, Ale Styles, by pure luck.Porter, sour, and stout just spontaneously jumped out at me, and amber was the only other word that could possibly fit.

Gruff, hoarse, husky, and rough were obvious synonyms for “Raspy,” which was actually the name of the Yellow group.

Little, middle, pointer, and finger all wound up in a line after I shuffled a few times, and the only thing they could really be was “Names of fingers.” That was pretty close: Green was just “Fingers.”

That left bulldog, fry, horn, and kiss. As usual, the key was the missing word, in this case, “French.” French bulldog, french fry, french horn, and french kiss are all distinct terms. They were in the Purple group, “French _____.”

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.