You've probably been there. It’s 11:45 PM on a Tuesday, and you are staring at a grid of letters on the New York Times Games app, trying to figure out why a b c d but not e nyt is the logic of the hour. It’s frustrating. It's addictive. Honestly, it’s mostly just a weird little quirk of how our brains process patterns when we're tired.
The New York Times has basically cornered the market on "smart" procrastination. Between Wordle, Connections, and the ever-daunting Crossword, there’s this specific vocabulary that has emerged among players. When we talk about "a b c d but not e nyt," we are usually diving into the murky waters of the Connections game or perhaps a very specific set of Letter Boxed constraints. It’s about exclusion. It’s about the "red herring" that the editors—shout out to Wyna Liu—love to throw in our faces just to see us squirm.
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The Logic of Exclusion in NYT Games
Why does the game want you to pick A, B, C, and D, but specifically avoid E?
It’s all about semantic overlap. In the world of the NYT Connections puzzle, the editors don't just give you a category; they give you a minefield. You might see four words that look like they belong to a group of "Types of Birds," but the fifth word, the "E" in our scenario, is the one that belongs to a completely different group, like "Types of Shuttles" or "Brands of Soap."
Basically, the "E" is the bait. If you take the bait, you lose a life. It's a psychological game as much as a linguistic one. The NYT team uses a "Difficulty Scale" for these puzzles, ranging from the straightforward Yellow group to the "what on earth were they thinking" Purple group. Usually, the "not E" factor is what separates a Purple group from a Blue one.
How the NYT Puzzle Editors Mess With Your Head
Let's look at how this actually works in practice. Take a look at a hypothetical (but very realistic) set of words. You see: Spade, Heart, Club, Diamond. Easy, right? Suits in a deck of cards. That’s your A, B, C, and D. But then there’s Ace.
If you include Ace, you might be right in a general sense, but the puzzle logic might require "Ace" to be part of a different set, like "High-Ranking Pilots" or "Hardware Stores." The exclusion—the "but not E"—is the entire point of the challenge.
According to various interviews with the NYT Games team, they spend hours ensuring that these overlaps exist. They aren't mistakes. They are features. They want you to feel that "aha!" moment when you realize that while all five words could fit, only four must fit to solve the grid. It’s a lesson in precision over generalisation.
The Psychology of the "Near Miss"
Psychologists call this the "near-miss effect." It’s actually the same thing that keeps people playing slot machines. When you choose A, B, C, and E, and the game tells you that you are "One Away," your brain gets a massive spike of dopamine. You weren't wrong; you were almost right.
That "almost" is what keeps the NYT Games subscription numbers climbing. You feel like you're just one clever thought away from victory. It’s a very specific kind of mental itch.
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Why "E" Is Usually a Red Herring
In the context of the NYT, a red herring is a word that fits into two possible categories.
- The Obvious Category: The one you see in the first five seconds.
- The Hidden Category: The one that requires you to think about homophones, hidden words, or puns.
If you’re looking at a b c d but not e nyt, you’re usually looking at a word that is a "chameleon." For example, the word "Orange." Is it a fruit? Is it a color? Is it a county in California? Or is it a character in a 2010s Netflix show?
If the category is "Colors of the Rainbow," and you have Red, Orange, Yellow, and Green, but then you see "Violet," you have to decide which one is the "E." Sometimes, the NYT will use "Orange" in a category of "Phone Providers (International)" instead. Suddenly, your rainbow is broken, and you’re starting from scratch.
Real Examples from Past Puzzles
Remember the puzzle from a few months back involving "Types of Pasta"? You had Penne, Rigatoni, Fusilli, and Ziti. But then there was "Orzo."
A lot of people jumped on Orzo. But Orzo was actually part of a category of "Words that mean 'Barley' in other languages" or something equally obscure. This is the "A B C D but not E" logic in its purest form. It’s not about what fits; it’s about what fits better elsewhere.
You have to look at the board as a holistic ecosystem. You can't just solve one group at a time in a vacuum. If you do, the "E" will get you every single time.
How to Beat the "Not E" Trap
If you want to stop falling for the bait, you need a strategy. Don't just click the first four words you see. That’s what they want you to do.
Instead, try to find "the fifth wheel." If you see five words that fit a category, stop. Do not submit. Look at those five words and ask: "Which of these could mean something else entirely?"
- Does one of them sound like a different word (homophone)?
- Is one of them a brand name?
- Can you add a word before or after it to make a common phrase? (e.g., "Fire" + "Fly," "Fire" + "Works")
Usually, the "E" is the word that has the most versatility. The more meanings a word has, the more likely it is to be the red herring.
The NYT Community and the "A B C D" Discourse
The conversation around these puzzles has exploded on platforms like TikTok and X (formerly Twitter). You’ll see thousands of people posting their "grids" every morning. When a particularly nasty "E" word ruins everyone’s streak, the "NYT Games" hashtag turns into a support group.
People genuinely get upset. It’s because the NYT puzzles feel like an IQ test disguised as a coffee-break activity. When we fail because of a "not E" situation, it feels like the editor personally tricked us. And honestly? They did. That’s the job.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Puzzle
Stop rushing. That’s the biggest mistake. The NYT doesn't reward speed; it rewards accuracy.
- Identify the Overlap: If you find five words that fit, list them out mentally.
- Look for the Outlier: Check if any of those five words are "weirder" than the others. Does one have four letters while the others have seven? Does one have a double meaning?
- Solve the Other Groups First: If you’re stuck between A, B, C, D, and E, leave that group alone. Try to find one of the other three groups. Once you find a group that uses "E," the problem solves itself.
- Think Outside the Dictionary: Sometimes the category isn't what the word means, but how it's built. Are they all palindromes? Do they all end in a specific suffix?
The next time you're faced with a b c d but not e nyt, remember that the "E" is actually your biggest clue. It’s the thread you need to pull to unspool the rest of the puzzle. Treat it like a puzzle-solving gift rather than an annoyance.
Check the board for "hidden" categories before committing to the obvious ones. The "E" word is almost always the key to the Purple category. If you can figure out where "E" really belongs, the rest of the grid will collapse into place like a house of cards. Focus on the most restrictive words first—the ones that can only mean one thing—and save the chameleons for last.