June 6Th Insights: Unlocking the Secrets of Today’s New York Times Connection #361

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.

Hints for Today’s Connections Groups

Here are a few hints for the 361st Connections game to get you started:

• Yellow: Inspire to do something.
• Green: A card game known for turning friends into enemies.
• Blue: Ice falling from the sky.
• Purple: Places with a thing you can sit on.

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

• Yellow: Move to Action
• Green: Uno Cards
• Blue: Hail Size Comparisons
• Purple: Places with Benches

Today’s NYT Connections Answers

Move to Action (Yellow):

Drive, Prompt, Propel, Push

Uno Cards (Green):

Draw, Reverse, Skip, Wild

Hail Size Comparisons (Blue):

Baseball, Grapefruit, Marble, Pea

Places with Benches (Purple):

Courtroom, Dugout, Gym, Park

How Did We Solve This Connections Game?

June 6th’s game was pretty easy.

The first word I went with was baseball. Baseballs are round. Grapefruit is round. Marbles are round. Peas are round. Maybe there is a category with “Things that are round?” Nope—the Blue group was actually “Hail Size Comparisons.” I can only imagine how devastating grapefruit-sized hail would be.

Next, I looked at courtroom and dugout simultaneously. What do they have in common? Benches. With benches in mind, gym (as in a weight bench) and park fell neatly into place. Purple was just “Places with Benches.”

Drive, propel, and push are all related to making things move. Prompt, while less physical, has the same basic idea. To get something into motion, or get something into action. The Yellow group was “Move to Action.”

That left just draw, reverse, skip, and wild. In isolation, it was obvious what they were. Uno cards! The Green group was properly “Uno Cards.”

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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.