Connections Guide
Last reviewed: February 16, 2026NYT Connections Game Rules: Complete Guide to Every Rule and Mechanic
Complete Connections game rules explained: 16 words, 4 groups, 4 mistakes, color-coded difficulty. Everything you need to know about how NYT Connections works.
NYT Connections rules: sort 16 words into four groups of four that share a hidden connection. You get four mistakes total. Groups are color-coded by difficulty: yellow (easiest), green, blue, and purple (hardest). Tap four words and submit to guess a group.
Definition
What is Connections Game Rules?
Connections is a daily puzzle by The New York Times where players sort 16 words into four hidden groups of four. Each group shares a common thread. Players have four allowed mistakes before the game ends. Categories are color-coded: yellow is easiest, green is moderate, blue is tricky, and purple is the most difficult.
Overview
The Connections game rules are simple on the surface but hide surprising depth. You get 16 words, four groups of four, and exactly four mistakes before the game ends. This guide covers every mechanic including the color-coded difficulty system, scoring, and edge cases the official instructions do not mention.
Key Strategies
- Complete rule breakdown
- Color-coded difficulty system explained
- Mistake mechanics and edge cases
Quick Tips
- You must find exactly four words per group — no more, no less
- The game ends immediately after four incorrect guesses
- Purple categories often use wordplay rather than thematic connections
- You can deselect words before submitting if you change your mind
- The shuffle button rearranges all remaining words randomly
Connections game mechanics
Quick Facts
16
Words per puzzle
4
Groups to find
4
Allowed mistakes
NYT official Connections rules and community data, 2024-2025
The basic rules of Connections
Every Connections puzzle presents 16 words arranged in a 4x4 grid. Your task is to sort these 16 words into four groups of exactly four words each. Each group shares a hidden connection — a common thread that links those four words together. You select four words and submit your guess. If all four belong to the same group, the group is revealed and those words are removed from the grid. If any word is wrong, you lose one mistake. You have four mistakes total before the game ends. The puzzle is solved when you correctly identify all four groups, and you fail if you use all four mistakes before finishing.
The color-coded difficulty system
Each group is assigned a color that indicates its difficulty level. Yellow is the easiest category, typically using straightforward themes like types of fruit, animals, or colors. Green represents moderate difficulty, requiring broader knowledge or less obvious connections. Blue categories are tricky, often involving niche topics, specific domains, or subtle associations. Purple is the hardest category and frequently uses wordplay, hidden patterns, or structural tricks rather than thematic knowledge. The colors are always revealed in order from yellow to purple when you solve a group, regardless of which order you guess them in. Understanding this difficulty gradient is essential for strategic play because it tells you which groups to target first and which to save for last.
How mistakes and scoring work
You start every game with four allowed mistakes. Each incorrect guess costs exactly one mistake regardless of how close you were. If three of your four selected words were correct but the fourth was wrong, it still counts as one full mistake. There is no partial credit. The game tracks your remaining mistakes with dots or bubbles below the grid, giving you a clear visual countdown. When you reach zero remaining mistakes, the game ends and all unsolved groups are revealed. There is no traditional score in Connections. Instead, players share their results as an emoji grid showing which groups they solved and in what order, with colors indicating difficulty. A perfect game means solving all four groups without any mistakes.
Edge cases and lesser-known rules
Several mechanics are not covered in the official instructions. First, you can select and deselect words freely before pressing Submit, which means you can rearrange your selections without penalty. Second, the Shuffle button randomizes the positions of all remaining words in the grid. This is surprisingly useful because spatial proximity can create false associations. Third, if you guess a group that contains exactly one wrong word, the game tells you that you were one away. This feedback is valuable because it confirms three of your four words are correct. Fourth, the daily puzzle resets at midnight Eastern Time, matching the same timezone used by Wordle and other NYT games.
Common misconceptions about Connections rules
New players often believe the game has hidden rules that do not exist. The most common misconception is that solving groups in color order matters. It does not. You can guess any group in any order, and the reveal order is always yellow, green, blue, purple regardless of your guessing sequence. Another misconception is that words can belong to multiple groups. They cannot. Every word belongs to exactly one group, though the game's difficulty comes from words that seem like they could fit into more than one category. Finally, some players think the game gets harder on certain days of the week. While the NYT has not confirmed any day-of-week difficulty pattern, community data suggests Friday and Saturday puzzles tend to be slightly more challenging, similar to the crossword tradition.
Key Takeaway
Connections has exactly three core rules: sort 16 words into four groups of four, you get four mistakes maximum, and the categories are color-coded from yellow (easiest) to purple (hardest). Understanding these rules — especially the difficulty progression — is the foundation of every solving strategy.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
How many mistakes do you get in Connections?
You get exactly four mistakes in Connections. Each incorrect guess costs one mistake regardless of how close you were to a correct group. The game ends when all four mistakes are used.
What do the colors mean in Connections?
The four colors indicate difficulty: yellow is easiest, green is moderate, blue is tricky, and purple is hardest. Purple categories frequently use wordplay or hidden patterns rather than straightforward themes.
Can a word belong to two groups in Connections?
No. Each word belongs to exactly one group. However, the game is designed so that some words appear to fit multiple categories, creating intentional traps that test your reasoning.
What happens when you get one away in Connections?
If three of your four selected words belong to the same group but the fourth does not, the game shows an 'one away' message. This confirms three words are correct and only one needs to be swapped.
What time does Connections reset?
Connections resets at midnight Eastern Time every day. Players in other timezones receive the new puzzle based on this ET schedule, not their local time.
Do you have to solve Connections colors in order?
No. You can guess groups in any order. The color reveal always goes yellow, green, blue, purple regardless of which group you solve first. Many experienced players deliberately start with yellow and save purple for last.
Written by
Connections Hintz Editorial Team
Our team solves every NYT puzzle daily and publishes verified hints within minutes of each reset. With 500+ puzzles analyzed across Connections, Wordle, Strands, Spelling Bee, Mini Crossword, and Letter Boxed, we specialize in spoiler-free guidance that helps you solve puzzles on your own.
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