Want a different day?
A new NYT Connections puzzle appears every day at midnight for your time zone – which means some people are still playing “today’s game” while others are playing “yesterday’s.” If you are looking for the Monday puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections Tips and Answers for Monday, March 2 (Thu #995).
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 #996) – words of the day
Today’s NYT Connections words are…
- APPLE
- HANGER
- DRIFTWOOD
- MAC
- FLANK
- BROTHER
- BRISKET
- HOOK
- TOUCH
- SHELF
- DELICATE
- NEIGHBOR
- STEM
- BUT
- SUSPICIOUS
- QUICKSAND
NYT Connections today (game #996) – clue #1 – group clues
What are the clues for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Go big
- GREEN: Next to
- BLUE: Open the cabinet
- PURPLE: Half as fast
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 #996) – clue #2 – group answers
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: “BIG” THINGS
- GREEN: BE NEXT TO
- BLUE: SEEN IN A CUPBOARD
- PURPLE: STARTING WITH THE SYNONYMS OF “SPEEDY”
That’s right, the answers are below, so DON’T SCROLL FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #996) – the answers
The answers to today’s Connections game #996 are…
- YELLOW: THE “BIG” THINGS APPLE, BROTHER, DIPPER, MAC
- GREEN: BE NEXT TO ABOUT, FLANK, NEIGHBOR, TOUCH
- BLUE: SEEN IN A CUPBOARD HANGER, HOOK, ROD, SHELF
- PURPLE: START WITH THE SYNONYMS OF “SPEEDY” BRISKET, TASTIDIOUS, FLEETWOOD, QUICKSAND
- My rating: Easy
- My rating: Perfect
Skipping the obvious red herring of FLEETWOOD MAC, I spotted four words for BIG: BROTHER, APPLE, DIPPER and MAC.
This was the yellow group, which was a good start, although a little worrying given that it was the easiest and things were going to get harder and harder; if it was green, I would have been happier.
Then I focused on ABUT, simply because it’s an uncommon word that doesn’t go with a lot of other things. FLANK, NEIGHBOR, and TOUCH were obvious additions once I scanned the board properly, and I had green.
With eight remaining, I was initially perplexed – but focused on FLEETWOOD, as the name of a British golfer or British town didn’t seem to fit anything else.
And then: inspiration! I noticed that it was two words stuck together, and that FLEET went with QUICK from QUICKSAND, BRISK from BRISKET and FAST from FASTIDIOUS to START WITH THE SYNONYMS OF “SPEEDY”. It was purple and my job was done.
Answers from yesterday’s NYT Connections (Monday March 2, match #995)
- YELLOW: GYMNASTIC EQUIPMENT BEAM, HORSE, RINGS, ARCH
- GREEN: STATUS POSITION, ROW, STANDING, STATION
- BLUE: BASEBALL CALLS BALL, FOUL, SAFETY, STRIKE
- PURPLE: ______CHICKEN FUNKY, POPCORN, RUBBER, SPRING
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.
