Good day! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers into various categories. It can be difficult, so read on if you need clues.
What should you do once you're done? Well, play more word games, of course. I also have daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle's current page covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Connections Today (Game #581): Today's Words
Today's words from NYT Connections are…
- COMETS
- INVENTION
- COIN RELEASE
- ADVOCATE
- COURT
- ASTEROIDS
- FAIRY TALE
- DRESS COAT
- FICTION
- ROMANCE
- SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
- CENTIPEDE
- CHARM
- FANCY
- ESCAPE
- LOOK FOR
NYT Connections Today (Game #581) – Clue #1 – Group Hints
What are some leads for current NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: everything done
- GREEN: Have an appointment
- BLUE: Video classics
- PURPLE: another face
Do you need more clues?
We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the answers are to the four topics for today's NYT Connections riddles…
NYT Connections Today (Game #581) – Clue #2 – Group Answers
What are the answers for current NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: MANUFACTURING
- GREEN: WOO
- BLUE: ATARI CLASSIC GAMES
- PURPLE: THINGS WITH TAILS
Well, the answers are below, so DON'T SCROLL FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections Today (Game #581): The Answers
The answers to today's Connections game #581 are…
- YELLOW: MANUFACTURING FAIRY TALE, FANTASY, FICTION, INVENTION
- GREEN: WOO CHARM, COURT, CHASE, ROMANCE
- BLUE: ATARI CLASSIC GAMES ASTEROIDS, LEAK, CENTIPEDE, DEFENDER
- PURPLE: THINGS WITH TAILS COIN TOP, KITES, COAT, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
- My rating: Hard
- My score: Fail
I started today's Connections completely bewildered and unable to see any links before typing each word and noticing (after briefly thinking that we were looking for book genres) the words that made up FABRICATION and WOO.
Blue and Purple defeated me. Games are a blind spot for me. If I enjoy a game, I stay stuck in it for years. Tetris, City Sim, Balatro – not playing absolutely anything else until a new game takes over, or as was the case with a dinner game called Confirm attendance I played it every day on my phone, accidentally deleted it, and then found out it's no longer available. I realize this is a bit strange and has left me completely ignorant of everything else. But even if I were aware of the late 20th century video game canon, I would definitely have included SONIC THE HEDGEHOG as an Atari game (it's Sega), rather than in the THINGS WITH TAILS category.
After googling “Does Sonic The Hedgehog have a tail?” (I'm not the first to do this) I finally found out that Tails is the name of a character within the Sonic the hedgehog universe, and yes, Sonic has a tail. Every day is a school day.
Answers from yesterday's NYT Connections (Saturday, January 11, game #580)
- YELLOW: DISPLAY OF ROWS AND COLUMNS MATRIX, GRID, MATRIX, TABLE
- GREEN: THINGS TO DO AT A WORK EVENT CIRCULAR, CONVERSATE, MIX, NETWORK
- BLUE: OLYMPIC EVENTS SINCE 2000 BREAKING, SURFING, TAEKWONDO, TRAMPOLINE
- PURPLE: -_CUT FOOD, KANGAROO, SUPREME, TENNIS
What are NYT connections?
On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final question since you'll be able to answer it through a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little breathing room.
However, it's a little more complicated than something like Wordle and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For example, be careful with homophones and other puns that could disguise answers.
It can be played for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile devices.