The New York Times’ daily Connections puzzle challenges players to group sixteen words into four categories of four, based on shared themes. Today’s puzzle (#952) tested players with a mix of straightforward and deceptive clues.
Today’s Puzzle Breakdown
The puzzle’s difficulty varied, with some categories being more obvious than others. The Times Games section now includes a bot that analyzes player performance, tracking stats like completion rate and perfect scores. This feature adds a layer of competition for dedicated players.
Category Hints and Answers
The clues for today’s groups ranged from simple to obscure:
- Yellow (Easiest): “They waddle.”
- Green: “What you do in a rage room.”
- Blue: “Paperback or hardcover.”
- Purple (Hardest): “Tinseltown legends.”
The answers are as follows:
- Yellow: bill, feathers, webbing, wings (Features of a duck).
- Green: break, damage, total, wreck (Synonyms for destroy).
- Blue: author, quote, synopsis, title (Elements found on a book jacket).
- Purple: Cooper (Gary Cooper), Grant (Cary Grant), Peck (Gregory Peck), Price (Vincent Price) (Classic Hollywood actors).
Past Difficult Puzzles
The Connections puzzle often includes deceptively broad themes, which can make it difficult to guess the correct groupings. Some of the most challenging puzzles to date include:
- Puzzle #5: “Things you can set” (mood, record, table, volleyball).
- Puzzle #4: “One in a dozen” (egg, juror, month, rose).
- Puzzle #3: “Streets on screen” (Elm, Fear, Jump, Sesame).
- Puzzle #2: “Power ___” (nap, plant, Ranger, trip).
- Puzzle #1: “Things that can run” (candidate, faucet, mascara, nose).
The recurring difficulty comes from the puzzle’s reliance on ambiguity and lateral thinking. Players must consider multiple interpretations of words to uncover the hidden connections.
