If you’re looking for the answer to the Connections question for Tuesday, August 20, 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. 436 from August 20th below! Read on if you want some clues (and then the answer) about today’s Connections game.
If you want to easily access our connections tips every day, Bookmark this page. You can also find our previous clues there if you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.
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!
Photo credit: Connections/NYT
Clues to the topics in today’s Connections Puzzle
Here are some spoiler-free clues about the groups in today’s Connections:
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Yellow category – you can close the window to exclude these.
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Green category – verbs for pulling a fish towards you or closing a manual car window.
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Blue Category – What is your zodiac sign?
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Purple category – cartoon characters created by a legendary author with crazy imagination.
WARNING: 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
CRANK, GRINCH and CRAB are all words that describe someone with a bad temper, but they all fall into different categories today.
WIND is a verb, not a noun.
CAT and LION do not suit each other.
What categories are there in today’s connections?
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 easiest. The topic of today’s yellow group is GUST and the words are: BEAT, PULL, GUST, PUFF.
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 SPINNING and the words are: CRANK, REEL, TURN, WIND.
What do the blue words mean in today’s connections?
The blue grouping is the second most difficult. The topic of today’s blue category is ANIMAL CANCER SYMBOLS and the words are: TAURUS, CRAB, LION, ARIES.
What are the purple words in today’s connections?
The purple grouping is considered the most difficult. The theme for today’s purple category is DR. SEUSS TITLE CHARACTERS and the words are: CAT, GRINCH, POP, TURTLE.
How I solved today’s connections
I immediately see a few categories emerging. I think there’s a category for curmudgeons, with CRANK, GRINCH and CRAB, but I don’t see a fourth category yet.
I also see a wind category with WIND, DRAUGHT, GUST and BURST. POFF could possibly fit too, but I’m brave. Damn. I should know better by now, because I’m getting the dreaded “One Down”.
Ah, CRANK actually goes with WIND, REEL and TURN, which are all verbs for tightening or loosening something. 🟩
This means that PUFF belongs to BLOW, DRAFT and GUST. 🟨
I now see that there is a Dr. Seuss character category, with CAT (The cat with a hat), GRINCH (How the Grinch stole Christmas), TORTOISE (Yertle the Turtle) and POP (Hop on Pop).🟪
That leaves CRAB, TAURUS, LION and ARIES, which are all animals of the zodiac (Cancer, Taurus, Leo, Aries). 🟦
Connections Puzzle #436 🟨🟩🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦
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!
