If you’re looking for the answer to the Connections question for Sunday, August 18, 2024, read on – I’ll give you some hints, tips and strategies, and finally the solutions for all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meaning of the more difficult words and we’ll learn how it all fits together. Warning, there are spoilers for NYT Connections No. 434 from August 18th below! Read on if you want some clues (and then the answer) about today’s Connections game.
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Below I’ll give you some indirect clues about today’s Connections answers. And further down the page I’ll reveal the topics and answers. Scroll slowly and take only the clues you need!
Clues to the topics in today’s Connections Puzzle
Here are some spoiler-free clues about the groups in today’s Connections:
- Yellow category – These buttons are useful in the morning or during daylight saving time.
- Green category – things you might say if you wanted to put forward an idea.
- Blue category – Halloween treasures.
- Purple Category – Nicknames of some Disney characters who sing “heigh-ho, heigh-ho.”
ATTENTION: Spoilers for today’s connections puzzle follow!
We’ll reveal some of the answers in a moment. Scroll slowly if you don’t want to give away everything. (The full solution is a little further down.)
A note on the tricky parts
SLEEPING and DORMING don’t go together.
DOING and SAYING don’t go together.
What categories are there in today’s connections?
- Yellow: ALARM BUTTONS
- Green: “HERE IS A THOUGHT…”
- Blue: CANDY PIECES
- Purple: SEVEN DWARFS MINUS LAST LETTER
DOUBLE CAUTION: THE SOLUTION CAN BE FOUND BELOW
Want to know the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I’ll reveal them all below.
What are the yellow words in today’s connections?
The yellow grouping is considered the simplest. The topic for today’s yellow group is ALARM BUTTONS and the words are: ALARM, HOUR, SNOOZE, SET TIME.
What do the green words in today’s connections mean?
The green grouping is probably the second easiest. The theme for today’s green category is “HERE’S A THOUGHT…” and the words are: MAYBE, SAY, SUGGEST, WHAT IF.
What do the blue words mean in today’s connections?
The blue grouping is the second most difficult. The theme of today’s blue category is CANDY PIECES and the words are: KISS, NERD, RUNT, WHOPPER.
What are the purple words in today’s connections?
The purple group is considered the most difficult. The theme for today’s purple category is SEVEN DWARFS WITHOUT A LAST LETTER and the words are: DO, DOPE, GRUMP, SLEEP.
How I solved today’s connections
Ooh, GRUMP and DOPE stand out because they sound like names of dwarves Snow White (Grumpy and Dopey). I wonder if there is a category of their names without the “Y”. I see SLEEP, but nothing else. (As far as I know, there was no dwarf named “Kissy”.) This is frustrating.
I see MAYBE, SUGGEST and WHAT IF, and those are all words you might say when you’re wondering something. Hmmm, what else? Ah, SAY, as in “SAY, could you turn on that lamp?”?
I believe there is a category for clock/alarm functions with SLEEP, SNOOZE, SET TIME and ALARM. The word HOUR makes me nervous – I hope it’s not “just one second away”. Hell, it sure is.
Oh, it looks like there is a candy category: WHOPPER, RUNT, NERD and KISS. ?
I’m annoyed with myself: I just remembered that there is a dwarf named Doc. That means DO, SLEEP, GRUM and DOPE is my dwarf category. ?
The clock functions that remain are HOUR, SNOOZE, TIME SETTING and ALARM. ?
How to play Connections
I have a full How to play Connectionsbut here is a refresher of the rules:
First, find the Connections game on either the New York Times website or their Games app (formerly the Crossword app). You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with a word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often these are the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SNOW MUD, HAIL and SNOW are all types of wet weather), but sometimes there are word games (for example: BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN and WISH are all types of Lists: bucket list, guest list, etc.).
Select four items and click the submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was wrong, you’ll have the option to try again.
You win if you identify all four groups correctly, but if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game is over and the answers are revealed.
How to gain connections
The most important thing to know about winning Connections is that the groupings are tricky. Expect overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle appeared to contain six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t click submit until you’ve confirmed that your group of four includes only these four things.
If you get stuck, you can also look at the words that NO Connection to the others. If the only thing that comes to mind when you think of WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you may be on the right track. Once I had that problem solved, I ended up Googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes either.
Of course, another way to win if you get stuck is to read a few helpful hints – that’s why we share these clues every day. Check back tomorrow to read the next puzzle!
