Discover Key Themes of NYT’s Latest Piece on June 3 - Hints and Solutions for a Deeper Understanding (#358)

Quick Links

• What Is Connections?
• Hints for Today’s Connections Groups
• Today’s NYT Connections Answers
• How Did We Solve This Connections Game?
• How Do You Guess Connections Groups?

Connections is a game from the New York Times that challenges you to find the association between words. It sounds easy, but it isn’t—Connections categories can be almost anything, and they’re usually quite specific. If you need a hand getting the answers, we’ve got you covered.

What Is Connections?

Connections is a game from the New York Times. The objective is simple: sort 16 words into groups of 4. Each group of words will be connected by some common idea or theme. That common element could be anything. We have seen everything from games that rely on the number of letters in the words to categories that require you to spot an extra letter at the end of the word. Sometimes they’re references to economics, other times they reference fairy tales. There is no telling what sort of association there will be between words.

Once you’re confident you understand the connection, select 4 words, then hit “Submit.” You have only four attempts in total, so don’t be too guess-happy.

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Hints for Today’s Connections Groups

Here are a few hints for the 358th Connections game to get you started:

• Yellow: Also, shave.
• Green: Something you could do with string or rope.
• Blue: Made of smaller units.
• Purple: Try putting letters in front of these words.

If you still need help, the actual group names are:

• Yellow: Remove, As Body Hair
• Green: Twist Around
• Blue: Things Made of Cells
• Purple: B-____

Today’s NYT Connections Answers

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Remove, as Body Hair (Yellow):

Laser, Pluck, Thread, Wax

Twist Around (Green):

Coil, Spool, Wind, Wrap

Things Made of Cells (Blue):

Honeycomb, Organism, Solar Panel, Spreadsheet

B-_______ (Purple):

Ball, Movie, School, Vitamin

How Did We Solve This Connections Game?

June 3rd was pretty straight forward.

The first word I started with was spool, which brought to mind rope, string, and wire. As a verb, it means “to wind around a spool.” That pointed me to wind, coil, and wrap, all of which are conceptually similar. Green was “Twist Around.”

Lasers are fun, so I went with that word next. It can be a noun, which is the most common use, but it can also be a verb, which is often used when lasers are used for hair removal. That was a lucky jump because pluck, thread, and wax are also hair removal methods. Yellow was “Remove, As Body Hair.”

The next group I got was Blue, “Things Made of Cells.” I started with the word spreadsheet and then jumped to honeycomb before realizing that the common link was that they both have cells. Solar panels also have cells, and many organisms do too, though not all.

That left ball, movie, school, and vitamin in Purple. Purple is often about the words themselves, so I looked for patterns in words themselves, but found nothing. My next move was to try putting other words in front of the remaining words, and I eventually landed on the letter B. B-Ball, B-Movie, B-School, and B-Vitamin are all terms that make sense, so I went with it. Purple was just “B-_____.”

How Do You Guess Connections Groups?

There is no quick, reliable way to approach Connections like there is with Wordle, since Connections isn’t algorithmic. However, there are a few things to keep in mind that can help.

1. Look for similar parts of speech. Are some words verbs and others nouns? Are some adjectives? Try mentally grouping them based on those categories and see if any other patterns jump out at you.
2. Are the words synonyms? Sometimes categories will just be synonyms for a phrase, or very close to synonyms. Don’t rely too closely on this, though. Occasionally, Connections will deliberately throw in words that are sometimes synonyms to mislead you.
3. Try saying the words. Sometimes, saying the words helps. One puzzle we saw included the words go, rate, faster, clip, pace, speed, move, commute, and hurry—all of which are obviously related to the idea of motion. However, when you say them, it becomes a little more obvious that only four (go, move, hurry, faster) are things you’d actually say to prompt someone to get moving.
4. Expect the red herring . Connections usually has words that could be plausibly, yet incorrectly, grouped together. Take the words Bud, Corona, and Light, as an example. You might instinctively see those three words together and assume they’re lumped together in a category related to beer—but they weren’t.
5. Look for distinct words. If a word on your board doesn’t have multiple meanings or can really only be used in one context, try using that word as the basis for a category.
6. Shuffle the board. Sometimes, moving words around will help you look at them in new ways.

If you didn’t solve this one, don’t feel too bad—there’s always tomorrow! And those words may align with a topic you’re interested in, giving you a leg up on the competition.