Connections 394 - NYT Word Game - 9 July 2024

The New York Times is back with another new daily word game, Connections! This is heavily inspired by "The Wall" from the BBC quiz show Only Connect. You must sort the sixteen given words into thematically appropriate groups of four--and you only have a few opportunities for error! I don't know if I'll be solving this every day but I'm giving it a shot for now at least. We'll see how it goes. Let me know how you like it!
www.nytimes.com/games/connect...
#Connections
#nyt
#nytxw
#puzzle
#OnlyConnect
#Shorts

[@carsonroach-howell6945]

Never apologize for taking a long time, it makes me feel better about my performance 🙃

[@ShadowMorph608]

Agreed

[@UnnecessaryComment.]

Us too!!! Haha. My elderly grandmother and i watch you every other day.

[@aniala]

I had never heard of shock for hair so this one hurt me

[@dylantd9189]

Same! But I got the purple category - but couldn't narrow down the tv shows.

[@stevena.2306]

Me too; total fail today for me today.

[@betsyteutsch9399]

I recognized two of the TV shows, never heard of the other 2. There's a lot of pop culture in this game, and it always does me in.

[@chennis134]

Blue and purple for me were also difficult

[@wagwanbossy]

Tough one today

[@mertaksac9718]

Blue could've been a purple on any other day, tricky one today

[@SonicTheo]

Woah 8 minute solve!

[@instantfizz]

Great solve! I love it when you share your thought process. In my impatience today, after getting the yellow and green categories, I selected four random words in the hopes that it would tell me I was one off and I could go from there. Purely by chance, I hit the blue category! And then I still couldn't figure out the connection between the purple words. :)

[@fatdude4444]

failed today and it took me longer than 8 minutes lol

[@stevena.2306]

Weeds; great series, staring Mary Louise Parker.

[@pwmiles56]

I believe the "chronicles" are nouns, e.g. journal. Record can of course also be a noun, pronounced differently to the verb (or should be).

[@mirandolina46]

First two were quick and fortunately I spotted the hedge, because I've only heard of 2 of the tv shows

[@PaulMutser]

6:23 you're only one letter short 😅

[@andrewa.6770]

This is probably a silly question but how does one get good at this game? I often times fail every time I play and it can get really frustrating.

[@pwmiles56]

I've gradually got better (though by no means top flight). My method is to type out potential categories, with definitions, in a text file. Often I type out all the words and push them around until I see something I'm happy with. I don't worry about time. It helps me keep track of one-aways, etc, if I need to work by elimination. It also helps with posting results on the more competitive channels. I used to Google for pop culture items, etc, but I got my knuckles well and truly rapped for this so I don't do it any more.

[@craigmonty]

I've not been playing very long (few weeks) but i've noticed im starting to improve. It's really just practice and repetition.

[@SonicTheo]

An intense understanding of words and their multiple meanings. For instance I haven’t heard of a shock of hair but Chris has. Playing crossword also increases your odds of knowing these definitions.

[@Sparquz]

It's exceptionally hard for me as a non-native speaker, and even more so when the words have to do with American culture. Although I have noticed that I do get better as I play more of these.

[@idabsopeoplecantseemecry3835]

I think it also helps to be widely read and keep up on pop culture! Having a good vocab is definitely useful in this game, so I'd recommend reading more of anything in general tbh

[@steventhefan]

Never heard of shock of hair, and removing a letter from an already niche category seems cheap. I wouldn’t have even known weeds was a show let alone when it’s displayed as “weed minus the s”.

[@austindonisan]

Got the purple category first today. Hedge fund+hog jumped right out.

[@marilyngardner4269]

I found this puzzle very difficult today. I never did spot HEDGE and I wish I had. I rarely get these when some are two words (hedge fund) and others are one word (hedgehog). Also, "hedge maze" sounds like the wrong syntax to me. Ugh.

[@pj-fn1dv]

Downvote for thumbnail spoiler

[@randolpho-]

Connections Puzzle #394 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟪🟦🟪 🟪🟦🟪🟦 🟪🟦🟦🟪 🟪🟦🟦🟦

[@Tsteinlauf]

YIKES!! You and I had a similar day. 😢

[@XanderWhat]

I got stuck and had to stop and do strands before I could finish 😅 Connections Puzzle #394 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟩🟦🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦

[@Tsteinlauf]

Connections Puzzle #394 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟪🟦🟪 🟪🟦🟪🟦 🟦🟪🟦🟪 🟦🟪🟦🟦 This was pathetic. I don't watch current TV shows, and didn't think of "Cheers" or "Friends." It’s interesting that you thought of putting an "a" in front of "maze." I considered "a-maze," b-friend," "c-weed," and "d-fund," but that went nowhere. Yep, pathetic. So what, if it took you 8 minutes, you got it!! 👏🎶😊