Paragraph 1: Introduction and Personal Anecdote
This piece opens with a welcoming address to readers and a personal account of a recent experience flying in business class. The author describes the luxurious amenities enjoyed, such as a lie-flat seat with massage features, a multi-course meal, and complimentary drinks. This experience contrasts sharply with the discomfort of economy travel, especially for larger individuals, leading the author to humorously declare a willingness to endure extreme frugality if it guarantees future business or first-class flights. The introduction then pivots to the main topic, the New York Times’ word puzzle game, Connections. The author mentions a newly created Discord server for discussion and feedback regarding the game and the associated column.
Paragraph 2: How to Play Connections
Connections, a free daily word puzzle offered by the New York Times, challenges players to organize a grid of 16 words into four groups of four based on shared connections. These connections can be semantic relationships, shared properties, or wordplay associations. The game is available through the NYT website and app, with a new puzzle released daily at midnight. Players submit groups of four words, losing a "life" for incorrect guesses. Hints are sometimes provided for near-correct answers. The game ends after four incorrect submissions. The color-coding of the groups (yellow, blue, green, and purple) generally indicates increasing difficulty, with the purple group often involving wordplay.
Paragraph 3: Strategies and Features of Connections
The Connections puzzle provides a shuffling feature to aid players in identifying potential links between words. Strategic thinking is crucial, as some words may appear to fit multiple categories. Sharing results on social media and group chats is a common practice among players. NYT subscribers with All Access or Games subscriptions have access to the Connections archive, allowing them to revisit past puzzles. The author also offers a resource for finding hints and solutions for previous games on their blog, easily accessible through a Google search.
Paragraph 4: Hints and Group Identification for January 13th Puzzle
The January 13th Connections puzzle featured the words BANK, PARK, BOOK, STORE, RESERVE, TRAIN, SCHOOL, POOL, EARTH, SIGNAL, INCH, COACH, TURN, GLOW, GUIDE, and BRAKE. Hints provided for each group were: Yellow – "help someone learn"; Green – "a large quantity of something"; Blue – "D.M.V. essentials"; Purple – "’brain’ or ‘silk’ would fit in here." Following these hints, the connections are then revealed as: Yellow – teach; Green – cache; Blue – driving instructor directives; Purple – ____ worm. This section provides progressively revealing hints, allowing players to deduce the connections at their own pace before seeing the final answers.
Paragraph 5: Answers and Gameplay Analysis for January 13th Puzzle
The solutions for the January 13th Connections puzzle are revealed as: Yellow – COACH, GUIDE, SCHOOL, TRAIN (teach); Green – BANK, POOL, RESERVE, STORE (cache); Blue – BRAKE, PARK, SIGNAL, TURN (driving instructor directives); Purple – BOOK, EARTH, GLOW, INCH ( worm). The author shares their personal experience with the puzzle, describing it as relatively easy and outlining their approach to solving it. The author identifies COACH as a key word leading to the yellow group, BRAKE and PARK as clues for the blue group, and the subsequent identification of the green group. The purple group, centered on the " worm" connection, was solved first, recognizing the dual meaning of "bookworm" as both an avid reader and a type of insect.
Paragraph 6: Conclusion, Personal Notes, and Call to Action
The article concludes with a summary of the provided hints and answers, encouraging readers to return for future puzzle assistance. The author shares a personal anecdote about discovering the musician Daði Freyr and recommends their music. Finally, a call to action encourages readers to engage with the author’s blog and Bluesky account for more content related to word games, video games, and other topics. The author emphasizes the importance of staying hydrated and maintaining social connections by calling loved ones. This concluding paragraph blends personal reflections, recommendations, and a request for reader support.
