If you're looking for Connections answers for Wednesday, May 15, 2024, read on - I'll share some clues, tips, and strategies, culminating in solutions for all four categories. Along the way, I'll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we'll learn how it all fits together. Please note that there are spoilers below for the May 15 edition of NYT Connections #339! If you want some hints (and answers) for today's Connections game, read on.
If you want an easy way to return to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there if you want to know what you missed in previous puzzles.
Below, I'll provide you with some indirect hints about today's connection answer. At the bottom of the page, I will reveal the theme and the answer. Scroll slowly and get the hints you need!
Theme Hints for Today's Connections Puzzle
Here are some hints for the groupings in today's Connections (no spoilers):
Yellow Category - Not the Executive or Judicial branch, but another branch.
Green Category - You'll find similar areas in the Midwestern United States
Blue Category - In order to have an effective but difficult conversation, you need to have these qualities.
Purple Category - You may see these words on a dealer's sign if a headlight is malfunctioning.
PLEASE NOTE: Today's connection puzzle has spoilers!
We're about to give some answers. Scroll slowly if you don't want to spoil the whole thing. (The full solution is a little below.)
A note about the tricky parts
HODA and SAVANNA do not refer to today's host - SAVANNA refers to the open meadow.
FRANK and BILL are not names either.
DIRECT does not refer to the job of the person in charge on a movie set, but to a serious way of talking to someone.
HODA is the name of a famous car brand, but with one letter missing.
What are the categories of today's connections?
Yellow: legislative part
Green: grassland
Blue: Straightforward
Purple: car company minus letter
Be extra careful: the solutions are as follows
Ready to learn the answers to today's connection conundrum? I've given them all below.
What are the yellow words in today's connect?
The yellow grouping is considered the most straightforward. The topic of today's yellow grouping is part of legislation and the words are: action, bill, measure, solution.
What is the green word in today's Connections?
The green grouping is supposed to be the second easiest. The theme of today's green grouping is prairie and the words are: MEADOW, PLAIN, PRAIRIE, SAVANNA.
What is the blue word in today's Connections?
The blue grouping is the second hardest. The theme for today's blue grouping is "straightforward" and the words are: direct, frank, open, blunt.
What is the purple word in today's Connections?
The purple category is considered the hardest. Today's theme for the purple category is the automobile company minus the letters and the words are: AURA, BUCK, DOGE, HODA.
Here's how I solved today's connection problem
HODA and SAVANNA side by side - I suspect this is morning show hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie because of the way SAVANNA is spelled. I'll bet it's used with PRAIRIE, PLAIN and MEADOW, words that refer to open grassy wilderness. ?
It looks like "resolution," "bill," "action," and "measure" can all be used as legislative terms. ?
FRANK, STRAIGHT, DIRECT and OPEN also appear to be synonyms. ?
And finally AURA, HODA, BUCK and DOGE - nothing here surprises me. DOGE is a popular cryptocurrency and you can buck the trend, but that doesn't match the other two. Let's see. ? Oh, NYT, that's just rude. Well played.
Connection Puzzle #339 ???? ???? ? ???? ????
How to play Connections
I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here's a review of the rules:
First, find the Connections game on the New York Times website or in their game app (formerly known as the Crossword app). You will be presented with a game board containing 16 blocks, each with a word or phrase. Your task is to select a group of four blocks that have something in common. Usually they are all of the same type of thing (e.g. RAIN, SLEET, HAIL and SNOW are all types of wet weather), but sometimes there is word play involved (e.g. BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN and WISH are all types of lists: Bucket Lists, Guest Lists, etc.).
Select four items 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 will have the opportunity to retry.
When you have correctly identified all four groups, you win. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game is over and the answer is revealed.
How to win connections
The most important thing to know about winning connections is that grouping is tricky by design. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: 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 or so (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don't click "Submit" until you've confirmed that your foursome contains only those four things.
Another strategy, if you're having trouble, is to look at words that don't seem to be connected to other words. If all that comes to mind when you look at Whistler is the painting nicknamed "Whistler's Mother," then you might get the idea. When I solved this problem, I ended up Googling for a painter named Cross, because Cross didn't fit any of the obvious themes either.
Obviously, another way to win when you're stuck is to read some helpful hints - that's why we share them every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!
