NYT Connections Answers: Puzzle fans, your brain workout for Monday is here! The New York Times’ Connections #728 has dropped, and today’s puzzle is full of tricky associations that might just leave you scratching your head. But don't worry — we’ve decoded the web of words so you don’t have to rage-quit over a confusing clue or a misleading match.
Let’s dive into what made today’s Connections a satisfying challenge for word nerds and sleuths alike.
Crime Rings & Keyboard Things
In a typical Connections puzzle, players are asked to sort 16 seemingly unrelated words into four distinct categories of four words each. It sounds simple, but as fans know, red herrings and subtle overlaps often trip people up.
Today’s Yellow category featured Keyboard Shortcut Commands, a theme that came to life with the words Paste, Print, Quit, and Save. The Green category leaned toward logistics, focusing on words related to Secure In Advance — namely Book, Order, Request, and Reserve.
Where it got particularly intriguing was the Blue group, which evoked the gritty world of organised crime. The four words Crew, Family, Ring, and Syndicate all fell under the umbrella of Crime Organization. So if your mind went to mob movies or mafia lingo, you weren’t far off.
The Purple Head-Scratcher
The most difficult category, as always marked in Purple, puzzled many players today. The group consisted of Genus, Goo, Mazing, and Slid — and the common thread? Each word could represent a Spelling Bee Rank Minus A Letter. This abstract theme stumped quite a few players until the final reveal.
As per the game’s mechanics, “To win the game, you have to find all four Connections without making 4 mistakes,” notes the NYT guide. And if you slip up four times, the game ends and reveals the answers automatically.
Hints That Made (or Broke) the Game
Not everyone wants the full answer upfront, so the game offers hints for those looking to nudge their way to the solution. Today’s included:
- Yellow: As seen while typing.
- Green: If you’d like to stay in a hotel, you probably do this before arrival.
- Blue: Find words similar to ‘mob’.
- Purple: Are these words missing something?
For extra help, players could also view a single word from each group as a teaser: Quit (Yellow), Order (Green), Ring (Blue), and Genus (Purple).
So, whether you got all four on your first try or had to peek at a spoiler or two, Connections #728 gave puzzle lovers their Monday mental stretch.