The NYT Connections blog has been running successfully for the past six months with an impressive 120,000 users. It’s a reliable source for today’s Clues and Answers, which I’ve been enjoying each day. Today, I decided to tackle today’s puzzle: the “Connections” games from the NYT.
The puzzle presents me with 16 words that I’m tasked with arranging into four groups of four. Each group is color-coded—yellow, green, blue, and purple—and corresponds to a specific category or characteristic. My goal is to figure out which words fit into which category quickly and accurately.
First, I’ll list the 16 words in the order they were provided:
CASE, MANTLE, SAUCE, CORE, CRUST, FORTY, TRUNK, TROUT, TORSO, YOUNG, SIX-PACK, CHEESE, Topplings, BONDS, MIDRIFF.
Wait, the words list might be a little eggheaded, given that “Topplings” are food toppings and “Midrimps” are baseball players’ last names. But that’s just tagging along.
Now, I remember that the grid starts at midnight every day, and the solutions are always given in order of my submitted answers, but for today’s puzzle, I’m just trying to process.
The yellow group is the “Central section of the body.” “Core,” “Midrimps,” “Torsos,” and/or “Trunks” all fit here. “Core” is obviously a fish’s tail, “Midrimps” were exactly the baseball players I came across, “Torsos” are the human body parts holding the limbs together, and “Trunks” refers to parts of the body connected to limbs, like the totus in anatomy.
Next up is the “Green group,” which corresponds to the components of a pizza. “Cheese,” “Sauce,” “Topplings,” and/or “Corners” make sense. “Cheese” and “Sauce” are fruit dressing components, “Topplings” are the rolled-out spread, and “Corners” are the segments of a pizza.
Rolling over to the blue group: “Units of beer” are “Case,” “Forty,” “Growler,” and/or “Six-Packs.” “Forty” is a unit, “Six-Packs” are a type of beer packaging, “Case” are pre-packet forms, and “Growler” is a brand of beer. So, that fits exactly.
Lastly, the “Purple group,” which links more to wordplay. “Bonds,” “Mantle,” “TROUT,” and/or “YOUNG.” Wait, “YOUNG” is a player, but “Mantle” can refer to a company, “TROUT” is another baseball player, and “Midrimps” are the players themselves. “Bonds” in a baseball context could mean a team’s partnership or a set of commitments. So that group makes sense.
I think I got that all right, but it’s always good to double-check. Even if I make guesses, the feedback gives me insight. This must have been a tough one today. Glad I gave it a shot.
Final Answer:
- Yellow group: Core, Mid_imps, Torsos, Trunks
- Green group: Cheese, Sauce, Topplings, Corners
- Blue group: Case, Forty,Growler, Six-Packs
- Purple group: Bonds, Mantle, TROUT, YOUNG
This was a fun mix of pizza components and wordplay, thanks to today’s clues. Play on those!
