Look, we’ve all been there. You open your phone, coffee still steaming, and pull up the New York Times Games app thinking you’re about to have a nice, relaxing three-minute mental warm-up. Then you see the grid for connections 12 4 24. Suddenly, your morning is ruined. Wyna Liu, the associate puzzle editor who curates these daily headaches, really leaned into the "tricky" side of the spectrum for this specific Wednesday puzzle.
It wasn't just hard. It was devious.
If you struggled with the connections 12 4 24 board, you weren't alone. Social media was a wreck. People were genuinely questioning if they’d forgotten how to read. The thing about Connections is that it relies on "overlapping" words—terms that could easily fit into three different categories until you realize the purple category is actually some weird wordplay that has nothing to do with definitions. December 4th was a masterclass in that specific brand of frustration.
The Grid That Broke Everyone: A Breakdown of Connections 12 4 24
The layout for the connections 12 4 24 puzzle featured a lot of words that felt... corporate? Or maybe nautical? You had terms like ANCHOR, RELAY, REPORTER, and HOST. At first glance, you’re thinking "TV News Personalities," right? It seems so obvious. But that’s exactly where they get you.
In the NYT gaming world, the "Yellow" category is supposed to be the straightforward one. On December 4th, that category was actually "Broadcast Personalities." It included ANCHOR, HOST, MODERATOR, and REPORTER. If you snagged that one early, you were doing okay. But the overlap with RELAY (which sounds like a broadcast term) or even DJ (which wasn't there but feels like it should be) kept people guessing.
Then things got weird.
The "Green" category—"Kinds of Races"—was a bit of a curveball because the words were so distinct. You had DRAG, FOOT, RELAY, and STOCK. Most people saw RELAY and immediately thought of the broadcast category or maybe electronics. Seeing "DRAG" and "STOCK" together might make a car enthusiast's eyes light up, but for the average person just trying to finish their daily streak, it was a bit of a reach.
Why Purple is Always the Problem
If you’ve played this game for more than a week, you know Purple is the "wordplay" category. For connections 12 4 24, the Purple group was "Words Before 'Man'." 1. IRON
2. BEST
3. ICE
4. SNOW
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Honestly? This was one of the more manageable Purples we've seen in December. Compared to some of the absolute nonsense Liu has put out—like "words that sound like letters when said backward"—this was almost a relief. Iron Man, Best Man, Ice Man, Snow Man. Simple. The problem is that ICE and SNOW are so closely related that people kept trying to find a "Winter" or "Weather" category that didn't exist. That's the trap.
The Blue Category: The Real Headache of the Day
Usually, Blue is the "medium-hard" group. For connections 12 4 24, the Blue category was "Hold Back." - CHECK
- CURB
- INHIBIT
- REPRESS
This one felt like a vocabulary test from the 11th grade. The difficulty here wasn't the words themselves, but the fact that CHECK and CURB have so many other meanings. You "check" a box. You "curb" your car. Using them as verbs meaning "to restrain" is common in writing, but in a grid full of "Reporter" and "Drag Race," your brain just doesn't want to go there.
The Psychology of the "Red Herring"
The NYT team are experts at the red herring. They know exactly how you think. In the connections 12 4 24 puzzle, they used words that have strong secondary associations.
Think about the word STOCK. It could be:
- Finance (Stocks and bonds)
- Cooking (Chicken stock)
- Racing (Stock cars)
- Inventory (Back of the store)
When you see STOCK next to ANCHOR, you might think of a ship's inventory or something. When you see it near REPORTER, you think of a "stock report." This is intentional. It's meant to drain your four lives before you even realize you're playing the wrong game.
How to Beat Puzzles Like December 4th
If you're tired of losing your streak on puzzles like connections 12 4 24, you've gotta change your strategy. Don't just click the first four words you see that match. That's a rookie move.
First, look for the outliers. In this puzzle, INHIBIT and MODERATOR are pretty specific words. They don't have a ton of slang meanings. Work backward from the "hard" words rather than the "easy" ones like SNOW or FOOT.
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Secondly, use the "Shuffle" button. It’s there for a reason. Our brains get stuck in "grid lock" where we see words in a specific spatial relationship and assume they belong together. Shuffling breaks those visual patterns and lets you see the connections you're missing.
Common Misconceptions About Connections
A lot of people think the game is about synonyms. It isn't. At least, not entirely. It’s about categories. Sometimes those categories are synonyms, sure. But often, they are "things that start with a certain sound" or "parts of a specific object."
In the connections 12 4 24 game, the "Broadcast" and "Hold Back" groups were synonym-based. But the "Race" and "Man" categories were associative. Mixing those two types of logic in a single 16-word grid is what makes the game so addictive—and so infuriating.
Step-by-Step Strategy for Tomorrow's Grid
Since you've likely already finished (or given up on) connections 12 4 24, here is how you handle the next one:
- Identify the "Multi-Taskers": Find words that fit in two places. Don't select them yet. If you see "IRON," it could be a metal, a tool, or a superhero prefix. Hold it in your mind.
- Look for the "Word-Before" Category: At least three times a week, one category is "Words that follow X" or "Words that precede Y." If you have three words that seem totally unrelated, check if they all share a common suffix or prefix.
- The "One Life" Rule: If you're down to your last mistake, stop playing. Seriously. Close the app. Come back in two hours. Fresh eyes see things that "frustrated eyes" miss.
Connections isn't just a word game; it's a pattern recognition test. The connections 12 4 24 puzzle was a reminder that even when the words look simple, the logic can be anything but. Keep your streaks alive by slowing down. It's not a race—unless, of course, it's a FOOT race. Or a DRAG race. You get the idea.