Look, we’ve all been there. You open the NYT app, coffee in hand, and stare at sixteen words that seem to have absolutely nothing in common. Then, suddenly, you realize three of them are types of cheese, but the fourth "cheese" is nowhere to be found. That’s the beauty—and the absolute frustration—of the New York Times Connections game. If you are specifically hunting for Connections hints March 23, you’re likely dealing with a grid that’s trying its hardest to lead you down a series of very intentional, very annoying rabbit holes.
It’s not just about vocabulary. It’s about how Wyna Liu and the editorial team at the Times think. They love a good red herring. They love words that function as both nouns and verbs. Most importantly, they love to play with the way our brains naturally group things together, only to pull the rug out at the last second.
Why the Connections Hints March 23 Puzzle is Tricky
Every daily puzzle has a "vibe." Some days it’s very heavy on academic jargon. Other days, it’s all about pop culture or slang. For the March 23rd iteration, the challenge often lies in the "crossover" words. You know the ones—words that could easily fit into three different categories depending on how you squint at them.
Take the word "Lead," for example. Is it a heavy metal? Is it a verb meaning to guide? Or is it the main role in a play? When you see a word like that on March 23, your first instinct shouldn't be to click it. Your first instinct should be to look for its "siblings." If you see "Iron" and "Zinc," you might have a chemistry category. But if you see "Star" and "Understudy," you’re looking at a theater category.
The Art of the Red Herring
The NYT editors are masters of the "fake out." They will often put four words in a grid that look like a perfect set—let’s say four types of fruit. You click them, confident in your genius, and... "One Away."
That’s because one of those fruits is actually part of a category involving tech companies (like Apple) or colors (like Orange). When looking for Connections hints March 23, always check if a word has a double meaning that isn't immediately obvious. Honestly, the purple category—the hardest one—usually involves a wordplay element. It might be "Words that start with a body part" or "Phrases that end in a type of bird."
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Breaking Down the Difficulty Levels
Connections uses a color-coded system that most regulars know by heart now, but it’s worth revisiting how these are structured on a day like March 23.
The Yellow category is the straightforward one. It’s "The Straight Man" of the group. Think synonyms for "Happy" or "Fast." Usually, you can spot this one in about ten seconds if you don't overthink it.
Green is a bit more nuanced but still based on clear definitions. It might be "Parts of a Book" or "Things Found in a Kitchen." You’ve got to be careful here, as one of these words often overlaps with the Blue category.
Blue is where things get weird. This category often requires a bit of specific knowledge—maybe geography, 90s music, or sports terminology. If you aren't a fan of the specific niche they picked, this is usually where the strikes start piling up.
Purple is the wild card. It’s rarely about what the words mean. It’s almost always about how the words are constructed. Think homophones, hidden words, or "_____ [Word]." If you see a group of words that seem to have zero connection—like "Honey," "Sugar," "Sweetie," and "Tax"—you’re looking at things that can follow the word "Added."
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Strategies for Solving Without Losing Your Mind
Don't just start clicking. That is the number one mistake. You get four mistakes, and once they're gone, the puzzle is over, and your streak is dead.
The "Shuffle" is your best friend. Sometimes the layout of the grid is designed to make two unrelated words look like they belong together because they are sitting side-by-side. Hit that shuffle button. Do it three times. It breaks the visual associations your brain is trying to force.
Say the words out loud. Seriously. Sometimes the connection is phonetic. If you say "Rows," "Rose," and "Roes" out loud, the connection becomes obvious in a way it isn't when you're just reading the text on a screen.
Ignore the obvious. If you see four words that are all colors, wait. Look for a fifth color. If there is a fifth color, then "Colors" is almost certainly NOT the category, or at least one of those words belongs somewhere else.
Work backward from Purple. If you can spot the wordplay trick early, the rest of the puzzle falls into place like dominoes. Look for words that feel "out of place." Why is the word "Finish" there next to "Finnish"? Is it a geography pun?
Common Themes to Watch For
While every day is different, the NYT has some recurring favorites. They love:
- Anatomy: But not just "Arm" or "Leg." Think "Iris," "Hammer," or "Drum."
- Units of Measurement: "Degree," "Foot," "Second."
- Brands that became generic nouns: "Kleenex," "Xerox," "Band-Aid."
- Palindromes or Anagrams: This is classic Purple category territory.
For the March 23 puzzle, keep an eye out for words that relate to the transition of seasons or perhaps specific holidays if they fall near that window. The editors are humans; they are influenced by the calendar just like we are.
What Most People Get Wrong
People tend to get stuck because they refuse to let go of an initial association. They see "Bat," "Ball," and "Glove" and they are convinced the category is baseball. They spend three guesses trying to find a fourth baseball word.
Kinda painful to watch, right?
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In reality, "Bat" might be "Animals with wings," "Ball" might be "Formal dance," and "Glove" might be "Things worn in the winter." You have to be willing to kill your darlings. If a group isn't working, abandon it completely and look at the remaining twelve words with fresh eyes.
The Psychological Aspect of Connections
There is a reason this game went viral. It taps into the same part of the brain as crossword puzzles but in a much more compressed, "snackable" format. It's about pattern recognition. According to cognitive psychologists, our brains are hardwired to find order in chaos. Connections exploits this by providing too much order—multiple possible patterns—and forcing you to filter out the noise.
It’s essentially a test of your executive function. Can you inhibit the impulse to click the "obvious" link in favor of a more complex, underlying one?
Actionable Steps for Tomorrow's Grid
If the Connections hints March 23 puzzle beat you today, don't sweat it. Tomorrow is a new grid. Here is how you should approach it to ensure a win:
- Take a screenshot before you make your first guess. This allows you to look at the original state of the board if you get down to your last life and need to rethink everything.
- Identify the "Multi-Hyphenates." Find the three words that have the most meanings. Focus on finding their partners first.
- Check for "Fill-in-the-blank." Read each word and put a common word before or after it. Does "____ Card" work for more than one? "Credit card," "Wild card," "Birthday card."
- Limit your "One Away" attempts. If you get a "One Away" message, do not just swap one word for another randomly. Go back to the drawing board. You likely have three words from one category and one word that belongs in a completely different section of the grid.
Connections isn't just a game of what you know; it's a game of how you categorize what you know. Stay flexible, don't rush the clicks, and remember that the most obvious answer is usually the trap.
Once you’ve solved the March 23 puzzle, try to explain the categories to someone else. If you can’t explain why the words go together, you probably got lucky—and luck won't save your streak tomorrow. Practice defining the relationship between words clearly in your head before you commit to the selection. This habit builds the mental infrastructure needed to tackle the increasingly difficult puzzles the NYT keeps throwing our way.