A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing ‘today’s game’ while others are playing ‘yesterday’s’. If you’re looking for Saturday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, April 26 (game #685).
Good morning! Let’s play Connections, the NYT’s clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.
What should you do once you’ve finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I’ve also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc’s Wordle today 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 #686) – today’s words
Today’s NYT Connections words are…
- MASSAGE
- TIMES
- RUFFLE
- FISH
- PERCENT
- SHOCK
- MEATBALL
- GOLDFISH
- COMBO
- LOCK
- EQUALS
- THATCH
- CHEF
- MINUS
- TUFT
- TAKI
NYT Connections today (game #686) – hint #1 – group hints
What are some clues for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Sums
- GREEN: Various quantities of something you get cut
- BLUE: Savoury bites
- PURPLE: From a cold European country
Need more clues?
We’re firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today’s NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #686) – hint #2 – group answers
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: CALCULATOR BUTTONS
- GREEN: AMOUNTS OF HAIR
- BLUE: SALTY SNACK UNIT
- PURPLE: SWEDISH ____
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #686) – the answers
The answers to today’s Connections, game #686, are…
- YELLOW: CALCULATOR BUTTONS EQUALS, MINUS, PERCENT, TIMES
- GREEN: AMOUNTS OF HAIR LOCK, SHOCK, THATCH, TUFT
- BLUE: SALTY SNACK UNIT COMBO, GOLDFISH, RUFFLE, TAKI
- PURPLE: SWEDISH ____ CHEF, FISH, MASSAGE, MEATBALL
- My rating: Hard
- My score: Fail
I regularly use a calculator, have copious amounts of hair on my head, love a salty snack, and regularly shop at Ikea, yet I found today’s puzzle utterly baffling.
CALCULATOR BUTTONS I got straight away, but then came the collapse. First, I thought that there was a group of Victorian authors that I knew nothing about – so I linked LOCK, THATCH, TAKI and TUFT.
I got the “one away!” alert, but still didn’t think about hair and instead persisted with my literature hunch and swapped THATCH for RUFFLE.
After finally getting AMOUNTS OF HAIR I still faltered with just two groups to get – first thinking there was something about bowls. In my defense, cultural difference again thwarted me, as the majority of the products referenced as a SALTY SNACK UNIT, as well as SWEDISH FISH, are rare delicacies in the UK.
How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections answers (Saturday, April 26, game #685)
- YELLOW: TINT COLOR, HUE, SHADE, TONE
- GREEN: VALLEY DALE, DELL, GLEN, HOLLOW
- BLUE: BOBS DOLE, HOPE, MARLEY, ROSS
- PURPLE: COLOR ANAGRAMS DRE, GARY, GENRE, LUBE
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don’t technically need to solve the final one, as you’ll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What’s more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It’s a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It’s playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.