Good morning! Let’s play Connections, the NYT’s clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.
What should you do once you’ve finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I’ve also got daily Wordle hints and answers, Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
Today’s NYT Connections words are…
- SOLO
- JERSEY
- WILLY
- WONKA
- YORK
- HAVEN
- KINDER
- BIRD
- PADS
- CHARMS
- PORT
- HELMET
- RETREAT
- FALLIN’
- CLEATS
- SHELTER
What are some clues for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- Yellow: Somewhere safe
- Green: Locker room kit
- Blue: Sweet treats
- Purple: [not costing anything] blank
Need more clues?
We’re firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today’s NYT Connections puzzles…
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: SANCTUARY
- GREEN FOOTBALL GEAR
- BLUE: CANDY NAMES
- PURPLE: “FREE ___”
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
The answers to today’s Connections, game #539, are…
- YELLOW: SANCTUARY HAVEN, PORT, RETREAT, SHELTER
- GREEN FOOTBALL GEAR CLEATS, HELMET, JERSEY, PADS
- BLUE: CANDY NAMES CHARMS, KINDER, WONKA, YORK
- PURPLE: “FREE ___” BIRD, FALLIN’, SOLO, WILLY
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 2 mistakes
It’s now a part of my Connections routine that I look for anything related to one of three sports: football of the American variety, baseball, or occasionally basketball. Playing to the crowd there, NYT, well done. Anyway, predictable though it is, it did give me a way into this game once I’d already solved the very easy yellow group, SANCTUARY.
The football group was simply FOOTBALL GEAR, with CLEATS, HELMET, JERSEY, PADS, which left me with eight more to choose from and place in two collections. But what were they? Well, I only needed one of course, which was just as well given that I would never have got one of them.
The one I didn’t get was blue – CANDY NAMES, because I’ve not heard of any of them other than KINDER (which is available outside of the US). WONKA was familiar, obviously, but I thought it was only fictional. The other two… not a clue.
The one I did get was “FREE ___”, mainly because FREE WILLY was one of the few connections I could make with that word, and I then realized that FREE BIRD and FREE FALLIN’ also worked. I wasn’t sure about SOLO, but it sounded familiar and it turns out it was a 2018 film that I haven’t watched but that I have heard of. Tough going today, but I got there eventually.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
- YELLOW: DANCE STYLES JAZZ, MODERN, SWING, TAP
- GREEN: STEAL LIFT, PALM, POCKET, SWIPE
- BLUE: PERFORM WELL ON ACE, CRUSH, NAIL, ROCK
- PURPLE: ___BALL PITCHES CURVE, FAST, KNUCKLE, SCREW