You’re staring at a grid of sixteen words. Your coffee is getting cold. One word catches your eye: Sue. Then you see Peg. Suddenly, you're convinced there’s a "Grandma names" category hidden in there. You look for more. You see Barb. You see May. It feels like a lock, right?
If you played the New York Times Connections puzzle on March 15, 2025, you know exactly how that story ends. It ends in a purple or blue mistake.
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The sequence sue serve charge peg actually represents one of the most clever "red herring" traps ever set by the NYT puzzle editors. While they look like they belong together as names or perhaps a very specific legal process, they actually belong to two completely different worlds. Understanding the crossover between these terms is basically a masterclass in how English loves to mess with our heads.
The Litigation Trap: Sue, Serve, and Charge
When you see the words sue, serve, and charge together, your brain immediately goes to a courtroom. It’s a natural instinct. In the context of litigation verbs—which was the actual Blue category for that specific puzzle—these words describe the mechanical steps of the American legal system.
To sue someone is the commencement of a civil action. But you can't just say you're suing; you have to serve them. Process serving is the formal delivery of legal documents so the defendant can't claim they didn't know they were being hauled into court. Then there’s charge, which, while often used in criminal contexts (as in "bringing a charge"), can also refer to a formal instruction or a lien in civil matters.
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The fourth word that actually completed that "Litigation" set wasn't Peg. It was Move. In legal terms, to "move" is to make a motion or a formal request to the judge.
Why Peg Didn't Fit (But Felt Like It Did)
So where does peg go? Honestly, this is where Wyna Liu and the NYT team get devious. Peg was part of the Green category: Features of Stringed Instruments.
Think about a violin or a guitar. You have the neck, the bridge, the string, and—crucially—the tuning peg.
The reason people got stuck on sue serve charge peg is because of a psychological phenomenon called "associative priming." Your brain sees "Sue" and "Peg" and immediately thinks of names. Then it sees "Serve" and "Charge" and thinks of a waiter or a tennis match. The overlap creates a mental fog.
- Sue: Legal action or a name.
- Serve: Legal delivery, tennis, or food.
- Charge: Legal accusation, electrical energy, or a credit card.
- Peg: Instrumental part, clothes pin, or a name.
The "Old Lady Names" Red Herring
Let’s talk about the trap that caught thousands of players. The March 15 puzzle featured:
- Sue
- Peg
- Barb
- May
On the surface, it’s the perfect category. They’re all classic, slightly vintage names. But in Connections, if a category seems too obvious and doesn't have a secondary meaning, it's almost certainly a red herring.
Barb was actually grouped with Needle, Bristle, and Spine (Sharp Protrusions).
May was grouped with Might, Wish, and Tonight (Words from the nursery rhyme "Star Light, Star Bright").
How to Beat the Sue Serve Charge Peg Trap Next Time
If you find yourself grouping words like sue serve charge peg and hitting a wall, you've gotta pivot. The best strategy is to look for the "multi-hyphenates"—words that can be two different parts of speech.
Charge is a great example. Is it a verb (to charge a battery) or a noun (a criminal charge)? If you have four words that only work as one part of speech and one word that could be two, the multi-hyphenate is probably the key to a different group.
Actionable Tips for Tricky Grids
- Ignore the names first. Names are almost always traps unless they share a very specific, non-name trait (like "Cities in France" or "Chemical Elements").
- Say the words out loud. Sometimes hearing "Peg" makes you think of a guitar, whereas reading it next to "Sue" makes you think of your aunt.
- Find the "weird" word. In that March 15 puzzle, Bridge and Neck are very specific to instruments. Once you lock those in, Peg and String follow naturally, leaving the litigation verbs to stand on their own.
- Test the leftovers. If you think you found a group, look at the 12 words left. If they don't make any sense at all, your first group is likely wrong.
Next time you see a sequence like sue serve charge peg, take a breath. Don't click yet. Look for the instrument parts, the nursery rhymes, and the sharp objects hiding in plain sight.
Next Step: Try looking at your current Connections grid and identify which word has the most meanings—then try to find three other words that fit its least obvious definition.