Find the links between the words to win today’s game of Connections.
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Looking for Thursday’s NYT Connections hints and answers instead? You can find them here:
Hey, gang! Happy Friday. The weekend is almost upon us.
I spend a lot of my time thinking about how I communicate and how others may perceive me. I’m aware that my laidback, quiet nature can make me seem standoffish and not all that approachable in person. Still, I’d like to think I’m nice and friendly, even if I’m very much an introvert.
I’m definitely more comfortable in one-on-one conversations than in group settings, where I tend to struggle to butt in or get a point across. Not I’ve been in that position for a long time, but I’m more comfortable speaking in front of an audience than in a group setting – I suppose that’s because of how much I enjoyed being on stage in musical theater as a youngster. And I’m more comfortable still sharing my thoughts in written form.
I’d like to better understand how my body language, expressiveness and voice control can help me become a better communicator in all of those settings (except in my writing, of course).
I think it’s important for us to be as self-aware as possible. The better we can understand the way others perceive us, the more we can adjust and better engage with them.
(This went in a different direction than I expected. I initially planned to write about why I use “LOL” and “LMAO” very sparingly, but maybe some other time!)
Before we begin, I’ve set up a discussion group for NYT Connections and this column on Discord. We have a great little community over there and we chat about more than NYT games. Everyone who has joined has been lovely. It’s a fun hangout spot.
It’s also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare(!) occasions that I mess something up since I don’t look at the comments or Twitter much.
Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, March 28, are coming right up.
How To Play Connections
Connections is a free, popular New York Times daily word game. You get a new puzzle at midnight every day. You can play on the NYT website or Games app.
You’re presented with a grid of 16 words. Your task is to arrange them into four groups of four by figuring out the links between them. The groups could be things like items you can click, names for research study participants or words preceded by a body part.
There’s only one solution for each puzzle, and you’ll need to be careful when it comes to words that might fit into more than one category. You can shuffle the words to perhaps help you see links between them.
Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to figure out, blue and green fall in the middle, and the purple group is usually the most difficult one. The purple group often involves wordplay.
Select four words you think go together and press Submit. If you make a guess and you’re incorrect, you’ll lose a life. If you’re close to having a correct group, you might see a message telling you that you’re one word away from getting it right, but you’ll still need to figure out which one to swap.
If you make four mistakes, it’s game over. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen with the help of some hints, and, if you’re really struggling, today’s Connections answers. As with Wordle and other similar games, it’s easy to share results with your friends on social media and group chats.
If you have an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the publication’s Connections archive. This includes every previous game of Connections, so you can go back and play any of those that you have missed.
Aside from the first 60 games or so, you should be able to find my hints via Google if you need them! Just click here and add the date of the game for which you need clues or the answers to the search query.
What Are Today’s Connections Hints?
Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.
Today’s 16 words are…
- SKIRT
- BADGE
- PITCH
- FLANK
- CHUCK
- MONTY
- BRACKET
- CITY
- STUDY
- SASH
- SLING
- BOOKEND
- SURROUND
- BINGO
- BERET
- PELT
And the hints for today’s Connections groups are:
- Yellow group — toss
- Green group — like the bread in most sandwiches
- Blue group — signs of cookie hawkers
- Purple group — concert and mead would fit in here
What Are Today’s Connections Groups?
Need some extra help?
Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.
Today’s Connections groups are…
- Yellow group — hurl
- Green group — be on both sides of
- Blue group — parts of a classic Girl Scout uniform
- Purple group — _____ hall
What Are Today’s Connections Answers?
Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.
This is your final warning!
Today’s Connections answers are…
- Yellow group — hurl (CHUCK, PELT, PITCH, SLING)
- Green group — be on both sides of (BOOKEND, BRACKET, FLANK, SURROUND)
- Blue group — parts of a classic Girl Scout uniform (BADGE, BERET, SASH, SKIRT)
- Purple group — _____ hall (BINGO, CITY, MONTY, STUDY)
A pretty straightforward perfect game for me to extend my streak to 31 wins. Just one away from matching my all-time record! Here’s how I fared:
MONTY drew my eye right away. At first I thought it might be related to Monty Python or things more broadly linked to snakes, but I knew what was going on here just as my eye shifted over to CITY. Purples, done. (Monty Hall was the longtime host of Let’s Make a Deal.)
Although there was a red herring in types of beef cuts or steaks (FLANK, SKIRT and CHUCK), BOOKEND caught my attention. I knew then that FLANK had to go with the rest of the greens.
I figured that BADGE and BERET would go together, and sure enough, I quickly spotted the two words that would go with them for the blues. That left the self-evident yellows for the win.
Getting the purples first was the key to solving this one quickly. I probably could have had a reverse rainbow if I’d taken a beat to deduce the rest of the group. However, regular readers will know that that’s all way too methodical for someone who embraces chaos such as me. … Such as I?
I think I just proved my point.
That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to check my blog tomorrow for hints and the solution for Saturday’s game if you need them.
P.S. I have a new obsession and it’s unfortunate timing, because I am binging it relentlessly to the point that I am putting off important things that I should be taking care of. Why do we even have to deal with tax returns anyway?
Since I learned about the existence of Jet Lag: The Game a couple of weeks ago, I have been tearing through it. I’ve watched three or four seasons already, though some are only a few episodes long.
It’s a travel game show on YouTube and the Nebula subscription service, where new episodes debut one week early. It sees the hosts/competitors doing things like playing hide and seek across Japan, playing tag across Europe and racing to circumnavigate the world. Along the way, they have to complete challenges and try to figure out what moves their opponents are making.
The show is a lot of fun and it’s cleverly edited. I enjoy watching people carry out unexpected challenges (I adore Taskmaster for a similar reason). Watching the competitors try to quickly figure out the logistics of getting from one place to another and trying to anticipate where the person they’re chasing might be going in order to cut them off makes is compelling. The contenders make a lot of mistakes too.
Here’s the first episode of the latest season. The first three episodes are now on YouTube, where you can check out all of the previous seasons on the playlists section of the Jet Lag: The Game channel:
Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Call someone you love!
If you’re so inclined, please follow my blog for more coverage of NYT Connections and other word games and even some video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me out a lot! Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too Also, follow me on Bluesky! It’s fun there.
