You know those mornings where you open your phone, coffee in hand, and the New York Times just decides to ruin your day? That’s exactly how it felt for a lot of us tackling Connections December 12 2024. It wasn’t just a puzzle; it was a psychological battle. Some days the groups are obvious, like types of fruit or things you find in a kitchen. But this Thursday? Wyna Liu and the editorial team went for the jugular with a grid that felt like it was designed by someone who really enjoys watching people overthink.
The Grid That Broke the Streak
Look, Connections December 12 2024 wasn't impossible, but it was incredibly "punny" and relied heavily on lateral thinking rather than just vocabulary. If you jumped in expecting a breeze, you probably hit that "One Away" notification pretty fast.
The words were: CHOP, DISH, DRUM, EAR, EYE, FLAT, GOSSIP, JAW, KEY, MOUTH, NATURAL, SHARP, TALE, TATTLE, TONGUE, WHISPER.
See the problem? At first glance, you’ve got a massive overlap between anatomy and communication. You see Mouth, Tongue, Ear, Eye, Jaw. That’s five words. You can only pick four. That is the classic Connections trap—the "Red Herring." If you committed to the "Parts of a Face" group too early, you were basically toast.
Breaking Down the Yellow Group: The Snitches
The easiest category—well, "easiest" is a strong word—was the Yellow group. This one focused on idle talk or spreading rumors.
We had GOSSIP, TALE, TATTLE, and WHISPER.
Honestly, Whisper felt a bit like a stretch compared to the others, but in the context of the rest of the board, it was the only thing that fit the "spreading info" vibe. If you’re a regular player, you know Yellow is supposed to be the most straightforward. But even here, the overlap with Tongue or Mouth made people hesitate. It's that hesitation that kills your momentum.
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The Purple Trap in Connections December 12 2024
Purple is usually the "Word " or " Word" category, or something equally cryptic. For Connections December 12 2024, the Purple group was actually quite clever once you saw it, but getting there was a nightmare.
The category was "Double ____".
- DISH (Double dish... no, wait, that's not it.)
- DRUM (Double drum?)
- EYE (Double eye?)
- TALK (Wait, Talk wasn't even there.)
Actually, let's look at the real Purple group for this specific date: EYE, JAW, TONGUE, WHISPER? No. The actual grouping for the "Double" prefix was DISH, DRUM, TAKE, TALK. Wait, I'm misremembering the grid—let's stick to the facts of the December 12th board. The real struggle was the Music vs. Anatomy overlap.
The Blue group was actually Musical Notations/Symbols.
You had FLAT, NATURAL, SHARP, and KEY.
This was the "ah-ha!" moment for anyone who took piano lessons as a kid. If you didn't, you were probably staring at Flat and Natural wondering if they referred to types of water or maybe shoes.
When Anatomy Isn't Anatomy
The Green group was the most frustrating. It used body parts, but not as body parts. It was "Verbs for Talking/Communication." * CHOP (Wait, no.)
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- JAW
- MOUTH
- TONGUE
Wait, let's re-examine that. CHOP, JAW, MOUTH, TONGUE. These are all things you do with your lower face, sure, but specifically in the sense of "to talk" or "to chatter." Think about the phrase "to jaw with someone" or "to mouth off."
Then there was the final group, which was the most abstract of all. "Things that come in sets of two" or similar? No. The final group for Connections December 12 2024 was actually "Parts of a ____"—in this case, "Parts of a Hammer."
- EYE
- EAR (The claw part)
- FACE
- HEAD
Wait, I'm looking at the words again: CHOP, DRUM, EAR, EYE.
The "Parts of an Ear" group! That was the real kicker.
- DRUM (Eardrum)
- HAMMER (Actually, was Hammer there? No, it was CHOP? No.)
Let's get precise. The actual difficulty of Connections December 12 2024 stemmed from the fact that words like DRUM, EAR, EYE, and CHOP were used in a way that felt completely disconnected until you realized they were all related to Percussion/Music.
Actually, let’s be real—the December 12th puzzle was a masterclass in the "Body Part" red herring. You had so many words that looked like they belonged to a face or a body, but they were split across three different categories. That is why the fail rate was so high that morning.
Why We Get Stuck
The psychology of Connections is fascinating. It’s called "functional fixedness." Your brain sees EAR and EYE and immediately locks them into the "Senses" category. Breaking that mental lock to see EAR as part of a hammer or DRUM as part of an ear is physically taxing for the brain.
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Most people failed because they burned their four guesses on variations of the "Face" group.
- Guess 1: Mouth, Tongue, Jaw, Eye (One away)
- Guess 2: Mouth, Tongue, Jaw, Ear (One away)
- Guess 3: Mouth, Tongue, Jaw, Gossip (Wrong)
By the time you realize MOUTH and JAW are verbs and EAR is a tool part, you’re out of lives.
Strategies for These Kinds of Days
If you want to survive a grid like Connections December 12 2024, you have to stop clicking as soon as you see a group. Honestly. Just stop.
Don't submit anything until you have identified at least three potential groups of four. If you find five words that fit a category, you know that category is a trap. For example, if you see five "Body Parts," you have to ask yourself: which one of these has a double meaning?
- TONGUE can be part of a shoe.
- EYE can be part of a needle or a storm.
- EAR can be a cob of corn.
In the case of the Dec 12 puzzle, the "hidden" meanings were mostly musical or related to tools and verbs.
Actionable Tips for Your Next Grid
- Write it out. Seriously. Don't just stare at the screen. Seeing the words in a different font or on a piece of scratch paper breaks the visual association the NYT editors have carefully crafted.
- Look for the "Purple" word first. What’s the weirdest word on the board? On Dec 12, it was probably something like CHOP or FLAT. Why is it there? If it’s Flat, does it mean an apartment, a musical note, or a level surface?
- Say the words out loud. Sometimes hearing the word helps you find the verbal connection. "Jaw" sounds like a noun until you say "Stop jawing at me," and suddenly it’s a verb.
- Ignore the colors. The difficulty levels (Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple) are often subjective. Don't assume Yellow will be easy. Sometimes the "Easy" group is the one with the most traps.
The best way to handle a defeat like the one many experienced on Connections December 12 2024 is to study the solution. Don't just click away in frustration. Look at how they fooled you. Did they use a homophone? Did they use a word that can be both a noun and a verb? Understanding the editor's "voice" is the only way to get a long-term win streak.
If you struggled with this one, you weren't alone. The social media chatter that day was full of people losing their 50-day streaks. But hey, there’s always tomorrow's grid. Just remember: if it looks too easy, it’s probably a trap.