If you’re looking for the August 19 Connections hints and answers, we’ve got you covered right here:
Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a great week so far.
After recently returning my Steam Machine (a video game system that didn’t really make sense for my current setup), I was left with a gap on the shelves under my T.V. I decided to plug my PlayStation 3 back in for the first time in years, before Sony closes the system’s digital store next year. I figured I should take a look at some of the games I bought for that system but never played, which is a common affliction among people who play video games.
As much as those of us who write about games focus so heavily on new releases, I think it’s important to revisit the past and also experience older works for the first time. I needed to order a new controller, since the ones I have no longer work, but I am looking forward to dipping into some of these games when I have a chance.
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!
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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.
Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, August 20 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…
- TELEPHONE
- APOSTROPHE
- OXFORD
- SERIAL
- HAWAIIAN
- OKINA
- RATCHET
- COMMA
- WHITE
- PIGMENT
- ATOMIC
- DRAGONFLY
- DIAVOLA
- CEDILLA
- MEAT LOVERS
- SOCIAL SECURITY
Today’s NYT Connections Hints
The hints for today’s Connections categories are:
- 🟨 Yellow group — these might be easier to digest if you segment them first
- 🟩 Green group — that figures
- 🟦 Blue group — a bit like a 6 or 9, or even a 5
- 🟪 Purple group — like horsemint, currently
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 — WHITE
- 🟩 Green group — SERIAL
- 🟦 Blue group — CEDILLA
- 🟪 Purple group — RATCHET
Today’s NYT Connections Categories
Today’s Connections groups are…
- 🟨 Yellow group — kinds of pizza
- 🟩 Green group — kinds of numbers
- 🟦 Blue group — similarly shaped typographical marks
- 🟪 Purple group — starting with Chinese zodiac animals
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 — kinds of pizza (DIAVOLA, HAWAIIAN, MEAT LOVERS, WHITE)
- 🟩 Green group — kinds of numbers (ATOMIC, SERIAL, SOCIAL SECURITY, TELEPHONE)
- 🟦 Blue group — similarly shaped typographical marks (APOSTROPHE, CEDILLA, COMMA, OKINA)
- 🟪 Purple group — starting with Chinese zodiac animals (DRAGONFLY, OXFORD, PIGMENT, RATCHET)
SOCIAL SECURITY clued me into the greens, then the blues were no problem. OXFORD (as in the Oxford comma) didn’t quite make sense with those but I did briefly consider it.
The pizzas were up next, and that left the purples, which I figured at that point had to start with Chinese zodiac animals. I imagine the blues will be the toughest group for many folks today!
Streak = 536
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 hadn’t listened to anything from Ren for a while and was happy to see new stuff from his band, The Big Push. They never fail to impress and their cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” is a corker:
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.