NYT Connections for Beginners: How to Play This Addictive Word Game and Top Cheats

New to NYT Connections? Start Here

If you've heard people talking about "Connections" but never quite understood the hype, you're not alone.

Chances are, you've opened the game, glanced at a 4x4 grid of seemingly unrelated words, and thought:

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

Don't worry this isn't about your puzzle skills. The game has its unique logic, and once you understand it, everything starts to click.

This guide will walk you through the essentials:

• How the game works
• The basic rules
• Proven strategies to improve your results
• And how some players use smart tools to stay ahead without ruining the fun

What Is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is a daily word puzzle published by The New York Times. In this game, you see a 4x4 grid of 16 words. The goal of its player is to find four groups of four words that are all related in some way.

Each group shares a common theme, like:

• Colors (red, blue, green, yellow)
• Fruits (apple, banana, orange, pear)
• Action movies
• Types of fabric
• Or more complex categories like "words that end in -er."

However, the puzzle is that the connections are not always that simple, and many words can fit into more than one group.

How to Play NYT Connections

We have compiled this guide that will help you play like a pro even if you are a beginner:

Step 1: Open the Puzzle

Visit the NYT Connections game or open it inside The New York Times Games app. Here, you'll see a grid of 16 words.

Step 2: Look for Understandable Connections

Look across the entire board before selecting anything very carefully.

Here, we are writing a few examples of simple groupings to help you understand:

• Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Sunday = Days of the Week
• Dog, Cat, Rabbit, Hamster = Pets
• Shirt, Pants, Hat, Socks = Clothing

Once you find four related words, it's time to tap or click on them.

Step 3: Submit Your Guess

Click "Submit" after selecting your four words.

If your submitted answer is correct:

• The words disappear from the grid
• The game reveals the category name (e.g., "Types of Pets")

But if the submitted answer is wrong:

• You use one of your four allowed mistakes
• After four wrong guesses, the game ends for the day

Step 4: Keep Solving

Repeat the process until all four groups are solved or you run out of attempts.

What Do the Colors Mean?

Each group you solve is tagged with a color that is an indicator of the game's difficulty level:

• Yellow - Easy (e.g., months, colors)
• Green - Moderate (e.g., objects with screens, breakfast foods)
• Blue - Hard (e.g., movie titles, obscure categories)
• Purple - Tricky or misleading (e.g., idioms, puns, wordplay)

Yellow is usually the easiest group to find. Purple is almost always the one that makes you doubt your intelligence.

Key Tips for Playing NYT Connections

Even if you are playing this game for the very first time, the tips below will help you avoid early mistakes and improve faster.

1. Look at Every Word Before Choosing

Don't jump at the first group you notice.

The game is designed to trick you with words that look connected, but actually, they are not. Always scan the whole grid first.

2. Don't Ignore How a Word Is Spelled

Some categories are based on:

• Endings (like -ing, -ion)
• Word structure (double letters, prefixes)

Be careful and not just look for meaning but carefully scan the spelling patterns as well.

3. Use the "One Away" Clue

If you submit a group with three correct words and one wrong one, the game will let you know that you are close. But here, instead of guessing again right away, try shifting that questionable word to a different group.

4. Wait to Use Words with Multiple Meanings

If a word seems like it could fit more than one category, it's best to wait before using it.

Why? Because those tricky, double-meaning words are often there to throw you off. Locking them in too early can break up an otherwise correct group — and cost you a mistake.

For example:

Let's say you see the word "Mercury."

It could be a planet, a car brand, or even a chemical element. Until you have confidently solved one of those themes, like identifying other planets in the grid, hold back on placing Mercury.

5. Use the Shuffle Button

Rearranging the word grid changes how your brain sees the patterns. Use it often, and it's not cheating; it's smart play.

Why Some Days Make No Sense

Some puzzles feel like impossible.

You've made three wrong guesses.

Nothing fits.

You're staring at the board thinking:

"How does anyone get this?"

Here's the honest answer:

Most people aren't solving it completely on their own.

And that's perfectly okay.

How People "Cheat" at NYT Connections

If you are in gaming world you knew it very well even the smartest players use tools, hints, and research to help them win. And it's not cheating it is all about learning how the puzzle works.

Here's how to “cheat smart” without ruining the experience:

1. Google a Word You Don't Understand

Let's say the word is “crane.”

So there must be many options in your like, is it a bird? A construction machine? A verb? Taking help can help you to find exact group you're missing. Moreover, we all knew we just have 4 chances in whole day so being careful is must.

2. Use a Free Dictionary Tool

Sometimes, a word you think you know actually has a second meaning, which is key to the puzzle. Use this free tool:

Just enter the confusing word and check:

• Definitions
• Synonyms
• Alternate meanings

Examples:

• "Purse" can mean handbag or to pucker your lips
• "Bark" can be a sound or the surface of a tree
• "Pitch" can be music or throwing a ball

3. Use a Synonym or Word Association Site

If you're stuck with something like:

• Wallet, ATM, Tip Jar, Register

You might not immediately think of "cash-related items."

But a quick look on a synonym finder (like Thesaurus.com or OneLook.com) can help make that group clear.

4. Replay Old Puzzles

If you're a NYT Games subscriber, you can access the archive and play previous puzzles.

This builds pattern recognition. You'll start seeing how puzzle creators group words, what types of themes repeat, and how the harder categories are structured.

5. Keep a Note of Common Categories

I always recommend keeping track of common patterns; this is what experienced gamers do and winning challenging games, too. Here are a few examples for you:

• Words ending in -er
• Phrases with animals
• Things with wheels
• Common abbreviations

Final Thoughts

You can play NYT Connections the classic way with no help, no tools, no hints.

But if you're stuck, frustrated, or trying to improve, there's nothing wrong with using a little help.

In fact:

• You are improving your vocabulary
• You are sharpening your logic
• You are learning how the puzzle is built

Every time you use a tool or look something up, you get better. Ultimately, you will rely less on hints and more on skill and can play like a pro.

FAQs

Do the colors mean anything in the Connections game?

Yes, the colors in NYT Connections indicate the difficulty level of each group you solve:

• Yellow = Easiest
• Green = Moderate
• Blue = Hard
• Purple = Most difficult (usually involving wordplay, puns, or obscure themes)

This color-coding gives you a sense of how tricky each group is supposed to be. Most players try to identify and solve the yellow and green groups first, then work their way up to blue and purple.

How do you play old connections NYT?

You can play older NYT Connections puzzles by accessing the Connections archive, available to New York Times Games subscribers.

To access old puzzles:

1. Log in with your NYT Games subscription.
2. Go to the Connections game page.
3. Use the calendar or archive navigation to choose a previous date.

What are the rules for NYT connections?

Here are the official rules for playing NYT Connections:

• You're given 16 words.
• You must group them into four sets of 4 words that are related in some way.
• You get only four chances to make a mistake.
• After 4 incorrect guesses, the puzzle ends, and the correct answers are revealed.
• Groups vary in difficulty and are color-coded: yellow (easy), green (moderate), blue (hard), purple (very hard).
• You can use the “Shuffle” button to rearrange the words and potentially see new patterns.
• You can play one puzzle per day unless you're using the archive.

Why is the Connections game so hard?

In this game, you have to brainstorm, and you need to recognize patterns that are a bit harder and more challenging than word games. It looks like you can just guess your way through; you can't. There are over 63 million possible ways to group 16 words into four sets of four. That means random guessing doesn't cut it. To put it in perspective, if you tried to solve a new puzzle every single day by guessing randomly, you'd need to keep going for over 86,000 years before you'd have even a 50/50 shot at getting one right.

Published: May 14th 2025
Author: Zainab