Welcome to the weekend, puzzle lovers! Today is a wild game of connections – each group has a word that could easily form its own group when combined with another group’s word. But that’s not the case, so you’re wrong. (Like us, damn it.) Maybe you need some music in the background to wake you up – something nice and gentle like the soundtrack to Helldivers 2, perhaps? Spread democracy!

Here are your daily sweet 16 words to reread as you listen. They’re there, waiting for your best grouping attempts. The New York Times’ popular brainbuster “Connections” consists of four groups of words that have a common theme or commonality, but are shuffled in random order for you to figure them out. Remember to take your time – many words have multiple meanings, so think twice before you click.

Words of the day: REAL, MEDIUM, IMPRESSIVE, EXCLUSIVE, BEAUTIFUL, RARE, TERRIBLE, MYSTICAL, IMPORTANT, WELL MADE, BLOODY, LIMITED, ORACLE, PROPS, COLLECTIBLE, And MENTAL.

NYT Connections Yellow Group Note

Above is a visual clue for today’s yellow group. Maybe it’s just right for you? If you’re still scratching your head, well, I’m sorry to break it to you, but yellow is the easiest group.

Need a verbal hint? No, not really. Not if you are one of those four words. Then you would already know exactly what we are thinking.

Give up? Three of them fit perfectly in the line, but the fourth took a second to get through, only because the Times inserted a word into each of today’s four groups that, taken together, could have formed its own group. More on that later.

Today’s answer from the yellow group is Clairvoyant and his words are MEDIUM, MYSTIC, ORACLE, And MENTAL.

NYT Connections Blue Group Note

We’re going to go out on a limb and say that’s a pretty powerful visual cue. Will it get you to the finish line? That’s the catch – you still have to find the right words.

Do you need the verbal cue too? If dolls aren’t your thing, think about comic books. Or baseball cards. Maybe stamps?

Give up? We got green pretty quickly today. But we were almost thrown off track by that one word that could have been part of that nonexistent fifth group we’ll tell you about later.

Today’s response from the Green Group is Special Edition Adjectives and his words are COLLECTOR’S ITEM, EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED, And RARELY.

NYT Connections Green Group Note

Here’s your visual cue for today’s blue group. It might be your eureka moment. (No, sorry, that wasn’t a cue.) Or maybe it didn’t help at all. Hey, let’s try it.

Time for the verbal hint: Today it’s the back-slapping group’s turn, or what you will say to yourself if you solve today’s connections with full marks.

No? We’ve started to see a pattern. Today’s groups are relatively simple, except for that one word with multiple meanings that fits with the other three words with multiple meanings in today’s puzzle. Or maybe we shouldn’t have done Connections on an empty stomach.

Today’s answer from the blue group is “Great work!” and his words are IMPRESSIVE, BEAUTIFUL, PROPSAnd WELL DONE.

NYT Connections Purple Group Note

The purple group is the most difficult, so don’t be upset if this visual clue doesn’t immediately lead you to the promised land.

Here’s your verbal cue if you’re not into mixed martial arts: Use your Britspeak on one of these words and your Bill and Ted speak on another.

Give up? That was our elimination group today, probably as the Times puzzle master intended. Oh, and that imaginary fifth group? We tried MEDIUM, RARE, WELL GONE, And BLOODY for a steak group. Mmmm…..bloody……

Today’s answer from the purple group is Extremely and his words are HORRIBLE, BLOODY, REALAnd AWAY.

We’ll see if the Times is more lenient tomorrow – check back then and find out!

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