Not the Connections game you’re looking for? Here are the hints and solution for Monday’s game and an explanation of the answers.
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Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a lovely start to your week.
That’s it for another men’s World Cup and it was a wild ride. I’m glad Spain won in the end, not least because that earned me some credits from a food delivery app I use far more often than I should.
If you’ve just caught the bug from watching the tournament (it’s the biggest and best sport in the world, after all), please do know there’s almost always football to watch.
The Major League Soccer season has already restarted after a World Cup break, while the biggest European leagues will begin their new seasons in the coming weeks. The action is underway in Scotland too but, uh, the less said about my beloved Dundee United losing to Montrose, the better.
Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, July 21 are coming right up. Let’s get rolling!
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How To Play Connections
Connections is a free daily New York Times game that challenges you to arrange a grid of 16 words, phrases or symbols into four groups. The categories can involve anything from simple synonyms and cultural references to words that start with homonyms for birds.
There’s only one correct answer. Connections often features red herrings and other tricks like wordplay. You can make three mistakes, but a fourth spells game over and the end of your current streak!
The categories are color coded. Yellow is supposed to be the easiest to figure out, followed by green, blue and then purple. But it’s all relative as Connections tests your knowledge and deductive reasoning skills.
You can track your stats over time and earn badges for achievements like lengthy streaks or achieving a reverse rainbow. This involves submitting the purple category first, followed by blue, green and yellow. I’m here to help players figure out which is which.
You can play Connections on the NYT website or NYT Games app. NYT subscribers can access the full archive of more than 1,100 games of Connections. Each day’s game goes live at midnight local time.
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…
- MUSIC
- GRAM
- DRIVER
- VISION
- TUBE
- CROP
- BOOK
- APP
- ORCHESTRATION
- EXTENSION
- TANK
- KINESIS
- PROMPTER
- HALTER
- LYRICS
- PLUGIN
A Hint For Today’s Connections Groups
The hints for today’s Connections categories are:
- 🟨 Yellow group — not below
- 🟩 Green group — bandwidth busters in the ’90s
- 🟦 Blue group — linked to popular attractions in Manhattan and central London
- 🟪 Purple group — no need to keep your distance here
One Answer For Each 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 — TANK
- 🟩 Green group — EXTENSION
- 🟦 Blue group — BOOK
- 🟪 Purple group — GRAM
Today’s Connections Categories
Today’s Connections groups are…
- 🟨 Yellow group — kinds of tops
- 🟩 Green group — software downloads
- 🟦 Blue group — elements of a musical
- 🟪 Purple group — tele____
What Is Today’s 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 — kinds of tops (CROP, HALTER, TANK, TUBE)
🟩 Green group — software downloads (APP, DRIVER, EXTENSION, PLUGIN)
🟦 Blue group — elements of a musical (BOOK, LYRICS, MUSIC, ORCHESTRATION)
🟪 Purple group — tele____ (GRAM, KINESIS, PROMPTER, VISION)
It took me a few minutes of wondering what might fit with MUSIC and LYRICS before my eyes landed on BOOK and I thought of a Broadway show. So that took care of the blues.
Yellows were up next, thanks to HALTER. I initially thought the greens might be types of computer file, but that didn’t quite make sense with EXTENSTION.
Once the purples dropped onto the same line, the category became clear (“tele-” refers to things that cover large distances, hence the hint). And hey, that marks my 506th win in a row.
How did you get on this time? Here’s my grid:
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪
I don’t know that there’s too much to spell out from that game and I didn’t see a red herring, so I’m going to skip the Answers Explained column today. In case you’re wondering, the BOOK is the script of a musical. It features the plot, structure and spoken dialogue.
Be sure to check my blog tomorrow for hints and the answer for tomorrow’s game of Connections if you need them.
P.S. I’m a little annoyed I didn’t get the purples first today. As soon as I saw KINESIS, my mind went to “telekinesis.” And then it went to that one line from “Wonderboy” by Tenacious D, which I hadn’t heard in years. It’s now stuck in my head, so I must implant it in yours too:
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.