It’s time to play Thursday’s NYT Connections puzzle. It’s pretty difficult – so read on to find out my tips.
What should you do when you’re done? Play some word games, of course. I also have daily articles with tips and answers for Wordle, Strands and Quordle if you need help with those too.
SPOILER ALERT: Information about today’s NYT Connections is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (Game No. 431) – the words of the day
The words of NYT Connections today are…
- MATCH
- PHONE
- BUD
- REACH
- SIERRA
- DIRT
- BUDDY
- BUDDY
- TO REACH
- CHECK
- NATTY
- SCOPE
- ADD TO
- STELLA
- EXTENT
- PARTNER
NYT Connections Today (Game #431) – Clue #1 – Group Clues
What are some pointers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- Yellow: As far as possible
- Green: Fits together
- Blue: Tipping
- Purple: (word meaning salary) empty
Need more advice?
Now we’re moving into the spoiler zone, but read on if you want to know the four topic answers for today’s NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections Today (Game #431) – Clue #2 – Group Answers
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: WIDTH
- GREEN: OTHER HALF
- BLUE: BEERS, FAMILY
- PURPLE: WORDS AFTER “NUMBERS”
That’s right, the answers are below, SO DON’T SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (Game No. 431) – the answers
The answers to today’s Connections Game No. 431 are…
- YELLOW: WIDTH Scope, reach, reach
- GREEN: OTHER HALF complement, partner, partner
- BLUE: BEERS, FAMILY BUD, NATTY, SIERRA, STELLA
- PURPLE: WORDS AFTER “NUMBERS” CHECK, DIRT, Buddy, PHONE
- My rating: Moderate
- My result: 1 error
Misdirection is a constant danger in Connections, and it’s one of the reasons I always mix up the answers when I start the game. The New York Times tends to put words next to each other at the beginning to make it look like they go together when they don’t.
Today I guessed MATE, BUD, PAL and PARTNER as a group and was quite shocked when they didn’t give a consistent answer. But as luck would have it, MATE and PARTNER were instead part of the “Other Half” group (with COMPLEMENT and MATCH), while BUD went into “Beers” and PAL went into the final group “Words after ‘Pay'”.
Still, you’re allowed three mistakes in Connections (the fourth triggers a loss), so I still had enough guesses to solve this relatively tricky part of the game. I don’t think I would have gotten the blue group if it hadn’t been for delay – I’ve never heard of NATTY or SIERRA as a beer – but the purple one wasn’t as bad as it sometimes is, so I managed it in the end.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections Answers (Wednesday, August 14, Game #430)
- YELLOW: ERROR BUUUUU, PAUSE, ERROR, PAUSE
- GREEN: FLOWERS DAISY, JASMINE, PETUNIA, POPPY
- BLUE: THINGS BEES DO HUMMING, DANCING, POLLINATE, STING
- PURPLE: FIRST NAMES OF YANKEES LEGENDS BABE, LOU, MICKEY, YOGI
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games from the New York Times. You have to find groups of four items that have something in common, and each group has a different level of difficulty: green is easy, yellow is a bit harder, blue is often quite difficult, and purple is usually very difficult.
The upside is that you don’t technically have to solve the final puzzle, as you can solve it by process of elimination. Plus, you’re allowed to make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little wiggle room.
It is a bit more complicated than Wordle, however, and has many ways to trick you. For example, watch out for homophones and other wordplay that could obscure the answers.
It can be played for free on desktop or mobile via the NYT Games site.