Connections Guide
Last reviewed: February 16, 2026How to Play NYT Connections: Complete Beginner's Guide
Learn how to play Connections on NYT with this complete beginner's guide. Covers rules, the four color-coded categories, mistake limits, and strategies for your first puzzle.
To play NYT Connections, study the 16-word grid and sort words into four groups of four that share a hidden connection. You get four mistakes before the game ends. Start with the most obvious group, use the shuffle button to break visual patterns, and save the purple category for last.
Definition
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is a free daily word puzzle by The New York Times. Players sort 16 words into four secret groups of four. Each group shares a hidden connection, and the four color-coded categories range from easy (yellow) to extremely tricky (purple). You get four mistakes before the game ends.
Overview
NYT Connections is one of the most popular daily word puzzles in the world, but its rules are not immediately obvious to new players. This guide walks you through everything from basic mechanics to the strategies experienced solvers use every day.
Key Strategies
- Complete rules and mechanics explanation
- Color-coded difficulty system breakdown
- First-timer strategies and common mistakes
Quick Tips
- The game gives you four mistakes — use them as learning opportunities
- Shuffle the grid at least twice before making your first guess
- Look for words that could fit multiple groups — those are the traps
- Start with the group you are most confident about, not the first one you see
- After solving, review the categories you missed to improve for tomorrow
Connections by the numbers
Quick Facts
Millions
Daily players
16
Words per puzzle
4
Groups to find
NYT official game rules and community strategies, 2024
What is NYT Connections
NYT Connections is a daily word puzzle published by The New York Times as part of their free games suite. Each puzzle presents 16 words arranged in a grid, and your job is to sort them into four groups of four. Each group shares a hidden connection, which could be anything from a straightforward category like types of fruit to a clever wordplay pattern like words that follow the word fire. The puzzle was created by associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu and launched in June 2023, quickly becoming one of the most played word games online. Unlike Wordle, which tests vocabulary and letter-position logic, Connections tests lateral thinking and pattern recognition. The game is free to play without a subscription, resets daily at midnight Eastern Time, and can be accessed through the NYT Games website or mobile app.
Understanding the four difficulty colors
Every Connections puzzle uses four color-coded groups that follow a consistent difficulty scale. Yellow is the easiest category, typically using straightforward thematic links that most players recognize immediately. Green is moderate, requiring general knowledge or a slightly less obvious connection. Blue is tricky, often involving niche topics, less common associations, or subtle groupings that require careful thought. Purple is the hardest and most creative category, frequently relying on wordplay, hidden structural patterns, double meanings, or lateral connections that break conventional thinking. Understanding this color system is crucial for strategy because it tells you where to invest your guesses.
Common traps and how to avoid them
The most common trap in Connections is the five-word lure, where the puzzle designer intentionally makes five or more words seem to fit a single category when only four actually belong. This forces you to identify which word is the decoy and belongs to a different group. The best defense is to never commit to a guess until you have checked whether each word could fit another category instead. Another frequent trap is assuming a category based on the most obvious meaning of a word when the puzzle actually uses a secondary definition. Purple categories are especially prone to this kind of misdirection. A third trap is confirmation bias, where you become so convinced of a grouping that you ignore contradicting evidence.
Tips for your first week of playing
If you are new to Connections, start by giving yourself permission to make mistakes. The game allows four wrong guesses, and using them is part of the learning process. During your first week, focus on reading all 16 words carefully before making any guess. Many new players rush to submit the first grouping they notice, which often falls into a designed trap. Instead, spend two to three minutes scanning for multiple possible groupings before committing. Use the shuffle button at least twice per puzzle to see the words in different arrangements. After each game, review the categories you missed and think about what clue could have led you to the correct grouping.
How Connections compares to other NYT puzzles
Connections belongs to a suite of six free daily NYT puzzles, each testing different cognitive skills. Wordle challenges vocabulary and letter-position logic with a single five-letter word guess. The Mini Crossword is a compact 5x5 grid that tests general knowledge and wordplay in under five minutes. Strands is a themed word search where you find hidden words in a letter grid, including a special spanning word called a spangram. Spelling Bee gives you seven letters and asks you to form as many valid words as possible using the center letter. Letter Boxed arranges 12 letters around a square and challenges you to chain words that use every letter. Of all six games, Connections is often considered the most social because its results are easy to share and discuss.
Key Takeaway
Read all 16 words before making any guess, start with the most obvious group to build confidence, and save purple for last. The shuffle button is your most underused tool since it breaks visual anchoring and reveals connections you missed in the original grid arrangement.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
How many guesses do you get in Connections?
You get four mistakes before the game ends. Each incorrect group submission costs one mistake. If you use all four, the remaining groups are revealed but you do not get credit for solving them.
What do the colors mean in Connections?
The four colors represent difficulty levels. Yellow is easiest, green is moderate, blue is tricky, and purple is the hardest. The colors are revealed as you solve each group correctly.
Can I play old Connections puzzles?
The official NYT app does not currently support replaying past puzzles. However, our archive provides full solutions and category breakdowns for every historical puzzle, which you can use for study and practice.
Is Connections free to play?
Yes, Connections is completely free. It does not require an NYT Games subscription. You can play daily through the NYT website or app without any paywall.
What happens when you guess wrong in Connections?
Each wrong guess costs one of your four allowed mistakes. The incorrect words remain on the board and you can try grouping them differently. If you use all four mistakes, the game ends and reveals all remaining categories.
Can I play Connections on my phone?
Yes, Connections is fully playable on mobile devices through the NYT Games app on iOS and Android, or through any mobile web browser at nytimes.com/games. The interface is optimized for touch screens.
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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