If you are looking for Connections Thursday, April 11, 2024 answers, keep reading — I will share some clues, tips, strategies, and finally solutions for all four categories. Along the way I'll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we'll see how everything fits together. Please note, there are spoilers below for the April 11 issue of NYT Connections #305! If you want some tips (and answers) for today's game of Wired, keep reading.
If you want an easy way to return to our hookup tips every day, bookmark this page . If you're wondering what you missed in previous puzzles, you can find our past hints there too.
Below, I'll give you some indirect hints on today's connection answers. Further down the page I will reveal the topics and answers. Scroll slowly and get the tips you need!
Topic prompt for today’s connect puzzle
Here are some grouping tips from today’s Wired (no spoilers):
Yellow Category - Stuff you might ask for in a barber shop.
Green category - tools with numbers.
Blue Category - How the liquid gets to your home.
Purple Category - Stuff you might see while driving through.
PLEASE NOTE: Today's Connect Puzzle contains spoilers!
We're about to give you some answers. If you don't want to spoil the whole thing, scroll slowly. (Full solution a little below.)
A note on the tricky bits
Mermaids and elves are both fantasy creatures, but today they don't fall into the same category.
BOWL and PIPE have nothing to do with marijuana, but PIPE does refer to the lines through which something might travel.
Today's blue category is not a fill-in-the-blank question, but it can serve as a category.
What are the categories of connectivity today?
Yellow: haircut, with "scissor"
Green: Measuring instruments
Blue: water and gas pipes
Purple: fast food mascot
Be extra careful: here’s the solution
Ready to get the answers to today’s connectivity dilemmas? I've given them all below.
What's the yellow word in today's connection?
The yellow grouping is considered the most straightforward. Today's theme for the yellow group is HAIRCUTS, WITH "CUT", and the words are: BOWL, BUZZ, CREW, PIXIE.
What's the green word in Connections today?
The green grouping should be the second easiest. Today's theme in the green category is measuring instruments, and the words are: compass, ruler, scale, watch.
What's the blue word in today's Wired?
The blue group is the second hardest. Today's theme in the blue category is water and gas pipelines, and the words are: CHANNEL, LINE, MAIN, PIPE.
What is the purple word in today's connection?
The purple group is considered the hardest. Today’s purple category theme is fast food mascots, with the words: clown, colonel, king, mermaid.
How I solved my connection issues today
I first saw MERMAID and PIXIE side by side and thought there might be a fantasy character category, but I know the Times likes to deflect, so let's keep looking. PIXIE is also the name of a hairstyle, look, there are CREW, BOWL and BUZZ. ?
Next I see COMPASS, which doesn't really mean anything else, so I look for something else that might fit it. There are rulers, scales and watches. Nothing else in the puzzle fits that category, so let's give it a try. ?
LINE and MAIN remind me of water, and CHANNEL and PIPE are also water-related terms. I thought the category might be water___, but apparently it's "water and gas pipelines." certainly. ?
The remaining four, except COLONEL, all looked like fantasy-style characters. Later I learned that COLONEL, KING, and CLOWN were all mascots of fast food restaurants. What is the use of mermaids? Ah, Starbucks. ?
Connect Puzzle #305 ???? ???? ???? ????
How to play connect
I have a complete guide to playing Connections , but here's a recap of the rules:
First, find the Connections game on the New York Times website or their game app (formerly known as the Crossword Puzzle app). You will see a game board with 16 tiles, each with a word or phrase. Your task is to select a set of four tiles that have something in common. Usually they are the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather), but sometimes a play on words is involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types) List : Last Wish lists, guest lists, etc.).
Select four projects and click the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be displayed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess is incorrect, you'll be given a chance to try again.
You win when you correctly identify all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before finishing, the game will be over and the answer will be revealed.
How to win connections
The most important thing to know when it comes to winning connections is that grouping design is tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle appeared to include six breakfast items: bacon, eggs, pancakes, omelets, waffles and cereal. But it turns out that BACON belongs to the same group of painters as CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, while EGG belongs to a dozen groups of painters (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your foursome only contains these four things.
If you're stuck, another strategy is to look at words that don't seem to be connected to other words. If when you see "Whistler" all that comes to mind is the painting nicknamed "Whistler's Mother," then you probably get the idea. When I was figuring this out, I ended up searching on Google to see if there was a painter named Close, since Close didn't fit any obvious themes either.
Obviously, another way to win when you're stuck is to read some helpful tips - which is why we share them every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!
