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 clues.
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 #589) – today’s words
Today’s NYT Connections words are…
- COOKIE
- BEAR
- SPINACH
- SHOULDER
- CROOK
- ANCHOR
- ELBOW
- CHEAT
- PIPE
- HANDLE
- BEND
- FOREARM
- FITTED
- ANGLE
- ASSUME
- BALANCE
NYT Connections today (game #589) – hint #1 – group hints
What are some clues for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Control the situation
- GREEN: You go around these
- PURPLE: Add a word that rhymes with “neat”
- BLUE: Musclebound sailorman
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 #589) – hint #2 – group answers
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: TAKE ON, AS A RESPONSIBILITY
- GREEN: CORNERS
- PURPLE: SHEET
- BLUE: ASSOCIATED WITH POPEYE
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #589) – the answers
The answers to today’s Connections, game #589, are…
- YELLOW: TAKE ON, AS A RESPONSIBILITY ASSUME, BEAR, HANDLE, SHOULDER
- GREEN: CORNERS ANGLE, BEND, CROOK, ELBOW
- PURPLE: SHEET BALANCE, CHEAT, COOKIE, FITTED
- BLUE: ASSOCIATED WITH POPEYE ANCHOR, FOREARM, PIPE, SPINACH
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 3 mistakes
SPINACH will forever be ASSOCIATED WITH POPEYE – the leafy veg giving him superhuman strength and giving parents across the generations an example of why you should eat your greens. But I could have looked at the other three words forever and I’d have never got the link – FOREARM? – congratulations to anyone who worked out that one.
Interestingly, bicep tears or ruptures caused by people attempting to mirror his bulging muscles are called Popeye Deformity. What a legacy.
Meanwhile, before wrestling with Purple and Blue, I got obsessed thinking one group of words had to be about plumbing and although you can get pipes that come in an ELBOW shape and SHOULDER sounded like a specialized type of PIPE too, I was overthinking the obvious CORNERS.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections answers (Sunday, 19 January, game #588)
- YELLOW: FUND KITTY, POOL, POT, PURSE
- GREEN: COURT FILING ACTION, CASE, CLAIM, SUIT
- BLUE: LANDFORMS BASIN, BLUFF, CAPE, PLAIN
- PURPLE: THEY HAVE RAYS AQUARIUM, GEOMETRY, SUN, TAMPA BAY
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.
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