Another day, another Connections puzzle. And if today's game is proving to be a tough one, Newsweek has provided some hints to boost your chances of success.
The game was launched The New York Times in June last year and has quickly become an online sensation. The brainteaser is now the newspaper's second-most-played game behind Wordle, another word-based puzzle.
For the uninitiated, Connections challenges players to uncover threads connecting a series of words. Instructions on how to play the game are below. Clues and the answers for today's puzzle are toward the end of the article.
How to Play 'Connections'
Connections tasks players with grouping 16 words into four categories based on association. For example, Friday's game linked the words "Clutch," "Messenger," "Satchel" and "Tote" under the category "Types of Bags."
Each of the four categories is labeled with a color, which also signifies their difficulty level. Yellow is the easiest category, followed by green, blue and purple. However, the puzzles are rarely straightforward, using homophones and wordplay, among other techniques, to keep players challenged.
The uniting themes span a wide range of topics, from movie franchises to body parts. Once you have figured out one group, those words are removed from the grid. However, players only get four guesses. Each incorrect guess adds to your mistake tally, and after four wrong answers it's game over.
Connections also has a shuffle button, which will mix up where the words appear on the screen to help players who might be stuck.
Explaining why the game has four difficulty levels, the Times' puzzle editor Wyna Liu said she toyed with different ways to make Connections more of a challenge.
"There would have to be a mix of categories for the game to feel challenging and satisfying," she said in the Times. "Some categories might be defined by their use of wordplay—palindromes, homophones, adding or dropping letters and words—rather than the literal meanings of the words on the cards."
However, the familiarity of the words used, and how often they pop up in modern life, are also difficulty factors, although less-common words aren't only used in the harder categories. "Item overlap," where one word can be linked to multiple categories, is another way Connections tests players.
"Caution was needed when including items that might stand out in the grid, since they would invite immediate scrutiny," Liu explained.
The answers for today's Connections puzzle will be revealed at the end of this article, so scroll with caution if you want to work them out yourself.
'Connections' #384 Clues for Saturday, June 29
Newsweek has some hints to help you figure out today's Connections categories.
Yellow: These words all sound alike.
Green: Each of these answers associated with linking.
Blue: For these answers, think of how you might position an item.
Purple: These words follow the name of something commonly seen in gardens.
'Connections' #384 Answers for Saturday, June 29
Yellow Category: HOMOPHONES
Yellow Words: To, Too, Tue, Two
Green Category: CONNECT
Green Words: Couple, Tie, Unite, Wed
Blue Category: PLACED DOWN
Blue Words: Laid, Placed, Put, Sat
Purple Category: ___ FLOWER
Purple Words: May, Sun, Wall, Wild
Did you guess the answers correctly? If so, congratulations. If not, there will be another opportunity to crack the puzzle tomorrow.
Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone. Newsweek will be back with another round of hints and tips for each new game.
About the writer
Ryan Smith is a Newsweek Senior Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
