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Good morning! Let’s play Connections, the clever word game from the New York Times that challenges you to group answers into different categories. This can be difficult, so read on if you need tips on connections.
SPOILER WARNING: The information on NYT Connections today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (game #983) – words of the day
Today’s NYT Connections words are…
- HEAVY
- HOOPOE
- BAD
- FEATHER
- FLY
- TEASE
- Dwarf Rooster
- TOPICAL
- LOOP
- SOUR
- WICKED
- LEGHORNE
- SHAVING
- RIPPLE
- FREE BEACH
- RAD
NYT Connections today (game #983) – clue #1 – group clues
What are the clues for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Old-fashioned barber techniques
- GREEN: Words for an Aspiring Fonz
- BLUE: Types of poultry
- PURPLE: Add a milky word
Need more clues?
We’re firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four themed answers are for today’s NYT Connections riddles…
NYT Connections today (game #983) – clue #2 – group answers
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: RETRO HAIR GUIDELINES
- GREEN: RETRO SLANG FOR COOL
- BLUE: CHICKEN DESCRIPTORS
- PURPLE: ____ CREAM
That’s right, the answers are below, so DON’T SCROLL FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #983) – the answers
The answers to today’s Connections game #983 are…
- YELLOW: RETRO HAIR GUIDELINES CRIMP, CURL, FEATHER, TEASE
- GREEN: RETRO SLANG FOR COOL BAD, FLY, RAD, NASTY
- BLUE: CHICKEN DESCRIPTORS BANTAM, HEAD, FREE RANGE, LEGHORN
- PURPLE: ____ CREAM HEAVY, SHAVE, SOUR, TOPICAL
- My rating: Hard
- My rating: 2 errors
After making a mistake connecting HEAVY, FLY, BANTAM and FEATHER, thinking they were all boxing weights, I decided BANTAM must apply to birds and got CHICKEN DESCRIPTORS.
But that wasn’t the end of my mistakes because, almost on track, I decided that BAD, RAD, HEAVY, and SOUR were all old-fashioned slang words for seriousness. As soon as I messed up, I saw the RETRO SLANG FOR COOL.
With only eight tiles remaining, RETRO HAIR DIRECTIVES was easier to spot, a good thing because I may have seen the connection between SHAVE and SOUR but HEAVY I missed it because it’s another example of the differences between the US and UK – in the UK, heavy cream is commonly called double cream.
Answers from yesterday’s NYT Connections (Tuesday, February 17, match #982)
- YELLOW: ZOOM DART, FLASH, SPEED, ZIP
- GREEN: SAUCES IN CHINESE CUISINE HOISIN, OYSTER, PLUM, SOY
- BLUE: RIFFLE (THROUGH) FLIP, LEAF, SKIM, THUMB
- PURPLE: START WITH THE SYNONYMS OF “DUD” BOMBAY, agitation, floppy disk, madam
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games created by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four elements that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow is a little more difficult, blue is often quite difficult, and purple is usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you technically don’t need to solve the final question, as you will be able to answer it through a process of elimination. Additionally, you can make up to four mistakes, giving you some breathing room.
However, it’s a bit more complex than something like Wordle, and the game provides plenty of opportunities to trip you up with tricks. For example, watch out for homophones and other puns that could obscure the answers.
It is playable for free via the NYT Games website on computer or mobile.




