If you’re looking for the August 17 Connections hints and answers, we’ve got you covered right here:
Hey there, Connectors! I hope your week is off to a strong start.
I’m excited about the new head coach for the Scotland men’s national team. Sebastien Pocognoli is a young coach with a solid track record who sets up his team to play attacking football (I won’t call it soccer, sorry).
I was worried that the people in charge would simply go with someone who was effectively the next person in line. But this is a bold approach. Some fresh eyes should help freshen things up by bringing in new faces and discarding some of the dross. I’m very much looking forward to the team’s first games under the new boss next month, and to seeing what the squad will look like.
Before we start, we’ve got a lovely community on Discord, where we chat about Connections, the rest of the NYT games and all kinds of things. You’re more than welcome to join us!
Also, my weekend editions of this column are available over on my newsletter, Pastimes. I sometimes write about other things that are on my mind there as well.
Play Puzzles & Games on Forbes
Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, August 18 are coming right up. Let’s get rolling!
How To Play Connections
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.
Today’s NYT Connections Word List
Scroll slowly!
After today’s Connections word list, I’ll give you a hint for each category. After that, I’ll reveal one word that goes into each group. Then I’ll reveal the categories, followed by the full answers.
Got it? Cool.
Today’s 16 words are…
- RED CARPET
- FILM NOIR
- BASKETBALL
- PRIVATE JET
- SWEET POTATO
- SANDPAPER
- VELVET ROPE
- FLYERS MASOT
- PRACTICAL JOKE
- LIMOUSINE
- TRAFFIC CONE
- PETROLEUM JELLY
- ORANGUTAN
- COWBOY COFFEE
- POETIC JUSTICE
- PAPARAZZI
Today’s NYT Connections Hints
The hints for today’s Connections categories are:
- 🟨 Yellow group — Hollywood hallmarks
- 🟩 Green group — like bedtime clothing
- 🟦 Blue group — lava, cheese and caramel might fit in here
- 🟪 Purple group — oh, that’s rough
One Answer For Each NYT Connections Group
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 — PAPARAZZI
- 🟩 Green group — PRACTICAL JOKE
- 🟦 Blue group — SWEET POTATO
- 🟪 Purple group — FLYERS MASCOT
Today’s NYT Connections Categories
Today’s Connections groups are…
- 🟨 Yellow group — seen at a movie premiere
- 🟩 Green group — PJs
- 🟦 Blue group — things that are orange
- 🟪 Purple group — things that are gritty
Today’s NYT Connections Answer
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 — seen at a movie premiere (LIMOUSINE, PAPARAZZI, RED CARPET, VELVET ROPE)
- 🟩 Green group — PJs (PETROLEUM JELLY, POETIC JUSTICE, PRACTICAL JOKE, PRIVATE JET)
- 🟦 Blue group — things that are orange (BASKETBALL, ORANGUTAN, SWEET POTATO, TRAFFIC CONE)
- 🟪 Purple group — things that are gritty (COWBOY COFFEE, FILM NOIR, FLYERS MASCOT, SANDPAPER)
I spent several minutes chuckling about the purples, which I figured out after remembering what the FLYERS MASCOT was (one of the few sports mascots I actually know). I don’t know anything about COWBOY COFFEE, but thinking of coffee granules meant that it was the only thing that made sense with the other three.
I got the yellows next, even though I was a little concerned that PRIVATE JET might fit in there in terms of things that celebrities are accustomed to.
I figured the orange things (which also include Gritty, FYI) would be the green group, but nope! That left the greens to wrap things up. Fun game today.
Streak = 534.
How did you get on this time? Here’s my grid:
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
Want to know more about how everything fits together? Let’s explore today’s game in more depth in my NYT Connections Answers Explained column. You can check that out by visiting my author page.
Be sure to check my blog for hints and the answer for tomorrow’s game of Connections if you need them.
P.S. I love the music from The Legend of Zelda games. I’m into Midwest emo bands like American Football. Mash the two together, and you get this, Tune in with Chewie’s Midwest emo take on those game soundtracks. It’s lovely stuff:
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. I’d really appreciate that as it helps me out. If you share this column with others who play Connections, that would be lovely too. You can also read my weekend editions of this column and more of my writing at my newsletter, Pastimes.