If you are looking for Connections Monday March 18, 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 March 18 issue of NYT Wired #281! 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 - Chapter.
Green category - written on stars.
Blue Category - Self-distortion.
Purple category - all due to their loneliness.
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
CYCLE, CYCLONE, CYCLOPS and CYGNUS all belong to different categories today, so don't let the similar spellings fool you. In case you need a refresher, the Cyclops is the one-eyed monster (or perhaps we should say the misunderstood shepherd) in The Odyssey . CYGNUS is a swan. (Fun fact: Little swans are called cygnets.)
If you think of Gemini as a zodiac sign, that's great! Look to the sky, not to the constellation columns, for its companions. (GALAXY isn't one of them, though.)
If you think of Solitaire as a game, the game itself isn't the point. Technically speaking, there are many card games that are called Solitaire. What do they have in common?
What are the categories of connectivity today?
Yellow: part of the process
Green: Constellation
Blue: spirals in nature
Purple: related to "one"
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 "SEGMENT OF A PROCESS", and the words are: CYCLE, PHASE, ROUND, and STAGE.
What's the green word in Connections today?
The green grouping should be the second easiest. The theme of today’s green group is constellations, and the text is: Cygnus, Gemini, Orion, and Pegasus.
What's the blue word in today's Wired?
The blue group is the second hardest. Today's theme for the blue category is "Spirals in Nature" and the words are: whirlwind, galaxy, snail, sunflower.
What is the purple word in today's connection?
The purple group is considered the hardest. Today’s theme for the purple category is “ONE” and the words are: cyclops, monologue, cards, unicycle.
How I solved my connection issues today
Bicycles, cyclones... I get it, they want to confuse us. However, Cygnus does not fit this mold. This is a Latin word that refers to a swan. There is a constellation called Cygnus, so do we have other constellations? Yes, ORION, GEMINI and PEGASUS are here. ?
SOLITAIRE is a solitaire game, so what else do we have? No, but we have other things that operate in a single form: a unicycle (a wheel), a monologue (a single voice, not like a dialogue), and a cyclops (a creature with one eye). ?
CYCLE must then join STAGE, ROUND, and PHASE as chapters in the larger timeline. ?
This leaves us with cyclones, galaxies, snails, and sunflowers, all of which have distinct spiral shapes (some galaxies, anyway). Not sure where the spiral is on the sunflower? Look at the center . ?
Connect Puzzle #281 ???? ???? ???? ????
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!
