Waking up and opening the New York Times Games app feels like a ritual for millions of us now. You've got your coffee. You've got five minutes before the kids wake up or the first meeting starts. You dive into the grid, and suddenly, you’re staring at four words that seem to have absolutely nothing in common. Or worse—you see six words that all fit the same theme. That’s the trap. Honestly, the game isn't just about what you know; it’s about how well you can resist the urge to click the first obvious connection you see.
NYT Connections word tips usually start with "look for synonyms," but that’s barely scratching the surface of how Wyna Liu and the editorial team actually build these puzzles. They aren't just grouping words. They are actively trying to mislead you using "red herrings." If you see four types of cheese right away, there is a 90% chance one of those cheeses actually belongs to a category about "Words that start with a Greek letter."
The Art of the Long Pause
Stop clicking. Seriously.
The biggest mistake players make is burning through their four mistakes in the first sixty seconds because they saw "Blue," "Red," "Green," and "Yellow" and thought, Oh, easy, colors! Meanwhile, "Orange" is sitting right there, and "Blue" actually belongs to a group of "Words before 'Jay'." If you find a connection immediately, treat it with deep suspicion.
Experts who nail the grid daily often use a "grid-mapping" technique. Instead of selecting words, they try to find at least five or six words that could fit a specific theme. If you find five, you know that category is a decoy. You have to find the outlier that belongs elsewhere before you commit. It’s a game of elimination, not just selection.
Understanding the Color Hierarchy
The game is color-coded, but you don't see the colors until you solve the group.
- Yellow: The straightforward stuff. This is usually direct synonyms or very common groupings like "Parts of a Book."
- Green: A bit more abstract. Maybe "Things that are sharp."
- Blue: This usually involves specific knowledge or slightly more complex wordplay.
- Purple: The notorious one. This is almost always "Words that follow X" or "Fill in the blank" or "Homophones."
If you're stuck, try to solve the Purple category first. It sounds counterintuitive. Why go for the hardest one? Because Purple words often look like total gibberish when standing alone. If you see a word like "DO" and "SO" and "LA," you might think notes of a scale. But if "RE" isn't there, and "MI" isn't there, look for something else. Maybe it’s "Prefixes for 'minder'." (Reminder, Deminder... okay, maybe not that, but you get the point).
NYT Connections Word Tips for Beating Red Herrings
Red herrings are the bread and butter of this game.
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Take a look at a past puzzle that featured "Mercury," "Mars," "Earth," and "Saturn." Seems like planets, right? Except "Earth" was actually part of a category for "Types of dirt," and the fourth planet was replaced by "Jupiter" which was actually part of "Roman Gods" alongside "Mars."
To beat these, you have to look for "pivot words." These are words with multiple meanings. If you see the word "BAT," don't just think of the animal. Think of baseball. Think of a wink of an eye. Think of "right off the bat."
Say the Words Out Loud
This is one of the most underrated NYT Connections word tips. The puzzle designers love homophones and phonetic tricks. If you're looking at a grid and nothing makes sense, start saying the words. Do they sound like letters of the alphabet? Do they sound like numbers?
In one famous puzzle, the connection was "Words that sound like body parts."
- "Eye" (I)
- "Yew" (U)
- "Knee" (Nay? No.)
Actually, it was "Words that sound like letters."
- T (Tea)
- P (Pea)
- R (Are)
- U (Ewe)
If you only read them silently, your brain stays locked in the literal meaning of the word. When you hear them, the "Aha!" moment usually triggers.
Why the Shuffle Button is Your Best Friend
Humans are visual creatures. We tend to read the grid from top-left to bottom-right, just like a book. The NYT editors know this. They often place two words from the same category right next to each other and then flank them with two red herrings.
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If you are staring at the screen and feel like you're hitting a wall, hit "Shuffle."
Hitting shuffle breaks the spatial bias your brain has developed. Sometimes seeing "PLUM" at the bottom right instead of next to "APPLE" at the top left helps you realize that "PLUM" belongs with "JOB" and "POSITION" for "Types of roles."
The "Fill-in-the-Blank" Mental Exercise
When you’re down to your last two lives and you still have 12 words left, it’s time to play the "Blank ____" game.
Go through every word and put a word before or after it.
- ___ Cheese
- ___ Ball
- ___ House
- Fire ___
Often, you'll find that four words share a common "partner" word. This is a staple of the Blue and Purple categories. If you see "Works," "Station," "House," and "Fly," you might not see it until you put "Fire" in front of all of them. Fire works. Fire station. Fire house. Firefly.
Dealing with Niche Knowledge
Sometimes the NYT goes a bit "New York" on us. You might see references to Broadway, specific brands, or slang that feels a bit localized. Don't panic. If you don't recognize a word or a potential connection, it’s usually because that word belongs to the "wordplay" category (Purple) rather than a "factual" category.
If three words are "Types of Pasta" and you’ve never heard of the fourth, but you see a word that means "a small bell," don't assume the bell is pasta. Look for a different fourth pasta. The game is designed to be solvable even if you aren't a walking encyclopedia, provided you can spot the linguistic patterns.
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A Quick Checklist for Your Daily Grid
- Don't click the first group of four you see. Ever.
- Identify the "Double Agents." Which words could fit into two different themes? Those are the ones you need to solve last.
- Look for "Noisy" words. If a word is very specific (like "Pumpernickel"), it’s usually a literal category (Breads). If a word is very short (like "OR"), it’s almost certainly part of a wordplay category.
- Count your overlaps. If you see six words that could be "Dogs," find the other categories first to see which two dogs actually belong elsewhere (like "Hot Dog" or "Dog-ear").
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Avoid the "sunk cost" fallacy. If you’ve guessed three words correctly and the "One away!" message pops up, don't just keep swapping the fourth word blindly. You have four mistakes. If you use three of them just to find the fourth word in a Yellow category, you’re going to be guessing in the dark when you get to the harder Blue and Purple lines.
If you get a "One away," stop. Look at the other twelve words. Which one of those could fit? If there are three possibilities, you don't have enough information yet. Move to a different category and come back to that one later. The grid gets easier as it shrinks.
Take it Slow
The New York Times doesn't reward speed. There’s no timer. There’s no leaderboard based on seconds elapsed. The only thing that matters is the "Perfect" solve—getting all four groups without a single mistake.
NYT Connections is a game of restraint. It’s about the words you don't click.
By the time you get down to the final eight words, the game usually reveals its hand. The hardest part is always the transition from 16 words to 12. Once you break that first group—the correct first group, not the decoy—the rest of the logic usually falls into place like a house of cards.
Actionable Insights for Your Next Game
- Audit the Grid: Spend the first 30 seconds doing nothing but looking for overlaps. If you see two potential themes for the same word, highlight that word in your mind as a "danger zone."
- Work Backwards: Try to identify the Purple category (the wordplay one) while the grid is full. It’s easier to see "Words that end in a fruit" (like "Appliance"—wait, no, "Bearable"—no) when you have all the options in front of you.
- The "One Away" Rule: If you get "One Away," do not guess again immediately. Switch your focus to an entirely different group to narrow down the pool.
- Use the Shuffle: Use it at least three times per game to keep your brain from getting "locked" into the editor's original layout.