Waking up to a grid of sixteen words can feel like staring at a complex code that just won't crack. Honestly, some days the New York Times Connections puzzle feels like it was designed specifically to ruin your morning coffee. November 22 is one of those days where the red herrings are swimming thick.
If you've already burned through two mistakes and you're starting to sweat, stop. Take a breath.
The NYT Connections hints November 22 usually revolve around one thing: misdirection. This specific puzzle leans heavily on words that seem like they belong in a professional office or a photography studio, but the game is far more interested in how these words function in the "real world" or as parts of famous phrases.
The Mental Trap of Today's Board
The biggest hurdle today is the overlap. You're going to see words like LENS, EXPOSURE, ZOOM, and SHUTTER. Every fiber of your being wants to click those four and submit them as "Photography Terms."
Don't do it.
It’s a classic Wyna Liu trap. While they all relate to cameras, they actually serve four completely different categories in this specific puzzle. If you commit to the photography theme, you’re basically handing over your streak on a silver platter. Instead, look at ZOOM and think about your 9-to-5 life. Look at SHUTTER and think about movies or places you might visit in a dream.
NYT Connections Hints November 22: Category Clues
Sometimes you just need a nudge in the right direction without someone shouting the answers at you. Here is the "vibe" for each color group today:
- Yellow (The Easiest): This group is all about how much people are looking at you. Think about PR, fame, or just being noticed.
- Green (The "Thinker"): This one is about your brain. How do you see the world? Not with your eyes, but with your mind.
- Blue (The Office Grind): If you've spent any time working remotely in the last few years, these words should be haunting your nightmares.
- Purple (The Phrase Game): This is the "fill in the blank" style. Each of these words precedes a specific noun that refers to a piece of land surrounded by water.
Breaking Down the "Island" Mystery
The Purple category is usually the hardest because it requires a leap of faith. Today, that leap involves ISLAND.
Think about it. FANTASY Island. LOVE Island. These are pop culture staples. But then it gets weird with SHUTTER and TREASURE. Once you see the pattern, it’s impossible to un-see, but getting there while the clock is ticking and your streak is on the line is a different story.
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Most players get stuck on SHUTTER because they want it to be part of a camera. But in the context of a "Shutter Island" (the book and Scorsese film), it suddenly clicks. This is why you have to mentally "unplug" words from their most obvious definitions.
The Workspace Overlap
The Blue category is almost too easy if you don't get distracted by the photography trap. SLACK, TEAMS, MEET, and ZOOM are the four horsemen of the modern office.
The trick is that MEET can be a verb or a noun, and SLACK is often a synonym for "loose" or "lazy." If you were looking for synonyms for "relaxed," you might have tried to pair SLACK with something else. Stay focused on the software aspect.
Why Your Perspective Matters
The Green category is perhaps the most elegant one today. It uses ANGLE, LENS, PERSPECTIVE, and POSITION.
Wait, didn't I say LENS wasn't photography?
Technically, it is, but here it’s used metaphorically. Like "viewing history through a specific lens." It’s about a point of view. If you can group these four together, the rest of the board starts to clear up like a foggy window.
Final Solution Paths for November 22
If you're still stuck and just want to save your game, here is the breakdown of the actual groups for the NYT Connections hints November 22 puzzle:
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- Publicity (Yellow): Attention, Coverage, Exposure, Press.
- Point of View (Green): Angle, Lens, Perspective, Position.
- Work Communication Platforms (Blue): Meet, Slack, Teams, Zoom.
- "____ Island" (Purple): Fantasy, Love, Shutter, Treasure.
Basically, the puzzle writers took a bunch of words that could be about cameras and scattered them across three different categories. It’s brilliant. It’s also incredibly frustrating.
To get better at this, try to identify the "one-off" words first. SLACK and TEAMS are very specific. They rarely mean anything else in the context of a word game. Once you lock those in, the "Photography" illusion begins to crumble, and you can see the "Publicity" and "Perspective" groups for what they actually are.
Move slowly. Use the shuffle button. It’s there for a reason—it breaks the visual associations the editors purposely set up to trick your brain.
Start by grouping the communication tools first, as they are the most distinct. Then, look for the "Island" connections, which are the most abstract. If you can clear those two, the "Publicity" and "Point of View" categories will practically solve themselves.