Find the links between the words to win today’s game of Connections.
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Each day’s game of NYT Connections goes live at midnight local time. Before we get to today’s NYT Connections hints and answers, here’s what you missed on Tuesday:
ForbesNYT Connections Hints And Answers For Tuesday, November 4 (#877)By Kris Holt
It’s Wednesday, and you know what that means: it’s time for another game of Connections! (And remember, remember, the fifth of November.)
When my partner asked me to weigh in on something the other day, I made my suggestion and said it would be a way for her to “kill two birds with one stone.” I immediately winced, because I don’t like that expression and was annoyed I’d said it. But it did get me thinking: has anyone ever been able to achieve such a feat?
I could find no evidence of that after extensive research (okay, 10 minutes of looking it up). I’ve always been interested in etymology and where words and expressions come from, so I at least needed to know the origin of the phrase. One theory is that it stems from Greek mythology and a story about Icarus and his father, Daedalus. The latter used a stone to kill two birds and collect the feathers to make Icarus’ wings.
I do fall down rabbit holes a lot. Curiosity is a blessing and a curse.
Anyway, today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, November 5 are coming right up. Let’s get rolling!
NYT Connections Hints – How To Play
Connections is a free New York Times daily word game that you can play on the NYT’s website or Games app. If you have an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the Connections archive, which includes every previous game.
Connections presents you with a grid of 16 words (sometimes phrases, symbols or numbers). The aim is to arrange them into four groups of four. You don’t know how they hit together or what the category for each group is: that’s what you have to figure out.
There’s only one correct solution and there are often red herrings. You can guess incorrectly three times. A fourth wrong guess, and it’s game over.
Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to deduce, followed by blue, green and purple. Often, the yellow and green groups have synonyms, the blues have cultural references and the purples have some kind of wordplay involved. But this is not a hard and fast rule. Be ready for curveballs – part of the fun of Connections is in how the NYT shakes things up to keep you on your toes.
As with Wordle and similar games, it’s easy to share results with your friends using an emoji-based grid. The game tracks your progress too.
Many players take pride in having long win streaks or getting a reverse rainbow – correctly guessing the purple, blue, green and yellow groups in that order with no mistakes. That adds an extra little challenge.
NYT Connections Hints – Today’s Word List
Scroll slowly! I’ll first give you a list of today’s words, then a hint for each category. After that, I’ll reveal one word that goes into each group. Then I’ll tell you the category names, followed by the full answers.
Today’s 16 words are…
KNIGHTCOATBUTCHERBAKERFLACKKNIFECANDLESTICKMAKERFRANKLINFORESTBOWBLOWSPOILWRENCHBOTCHROPENYT Connections Hints
And the hints for today’s Connections groups are:
🟨 Yellow group — oops, that didn’t go as well as hoped🟩 Green group — you might find these in the billiard room, study or conservatory🟦 Blue group — like wonder and green🟪 Purple group — blessed down in Africa?NYT Connections Hints – One Answer Per Group
Need some extra help?
Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.
Let’s take a look at one answer for each group.
Here we go…
🟨 Yellow group — BUTCHER🟩 Green group – ROPE🟦 Blue group — FLACK🟪 Purple group — COATNYT Connections Hints – Groups/Categories
Today’s Connections groups are…
🟨 Yellow group — make a hash of 🟩 Green group – weapons in the game Clue🟦 Blue group — iconic soul singers 🟪 Purple group — rain_____ NYT Connections Answers
Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.
This is your last chance to look away.
This is your final warning!
Today’s Connections answers are…
🟨 Yellow group — make a hash of (BLOW, BOTCH, BUTCHER, SPOIL)🟩 Green group – weapons in the game Clue (CANDLESTICK, KNIFE, ROPE, WRENCH)🟦 Blue group — iconic soul singers (BAKER, FLACK, FRANKLIN, KNIGHT)🟪 Purple group — rain_____ (BOW, COAT, FOREST, MAKER)
The reference to BUTCHER, BAKER, CANDLESTICK MAKER was fun. Still, the Clue (or Cluedo outside of North America) weapons were immediately apparently to me. That took care of the greens.
It took me a moment to realize that BUTCHER was the fourth word I needed for the yellows but I got there in the end.
FOREST and BOW then made me think of Robin Hood, but other than KNIGHT, nothing else quite made sense with those. I then realized that (Roberta) FLACK and (Aretha) FRANKLIN were surnames of singers. Anita BAKER and Gladys KNIGHT rounded out the blues.
That left the purples for the win. It took me a few minutes for the connection to click, but I got there in the end, largely thanks to FOREST.
That’s win 249 in a row for me. Very close to an arbitrary round number that I will nevertheless be pleased to hit if I win tomorrow.
How did you get on this time? Here’s my grid for today:
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪
The blues were the only group that needed any spelling out, so I’m skipping the Answers Explained column today.
Would you like chat with some lovely folks about today’s game? Want to hang out with others who enjoy Connections and other word games? You’re more than welcome to join our community on Discord. Expect fun GIFs, photos from Connectors’ travels and all kinds of other fun stuff.
That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to check my blog tomorrow for hints and the solution for Thursday’s game if you need them.
P.S. Tempted as I am to wax lyrical about “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada, one of the greatest pro wrestlers ever to do it, I’ll spare you and instead recommend a song from one of our blue-category members.
In Rolling Stone’s 2021 list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, this took top spot. Hard to argue with that. Aretha Franklin’s version of “Respect” is timeless, an absolute, stone-cold classic:
Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!
Please follow my blog for more NYT Connections hints and help with other word games, and even some video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me out a lot! Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. You can also read my weekend editions of this column at my newsletter, Pastimes.