NYT "Connections" Game

[DaveBrown74]

Connections
Puzzle #345
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪

[Ed Vette]

Connections
Puzzle #346
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪

[DaveBrown74]

I thought this was on the tricky side today.

Connections
Puzzle #346
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟪🟩🟪
🟪🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪

[Ed Vette]

Connections
Puzzle #347
🟩🟨🟩🟨
🟪🟪🟩🟪
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟨🟨🟩🟨
🟨🟨🟩🟨

[DaveBrown74]

Not the easiest after the first two...


Connections
Puzzle #347
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟪🟦
🟦🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟪🟦
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪

[Ed Vette]

Too many loose connections.

[DaveBrown74]

Connections
Puzzle #348
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦

[Ed Vette]

Connections
Puzzle #349
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪

[DaveBrown74]

Connections
Puzzle #349
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪

[DaveBrown74]

How do you "do" Connections, Ed?

In other words how do you approach the puzzle each day? Do you have some sort of process that you rigidly apply to each game, or do you just kind of eyeball it and wing it?

Just curious.

[Ed Vette]

How do you "do" Connections, Ed?

In other words how do you approach the puzzle each day? Do you have some sort of process that you rigidly apply to each game, or do you just kind of eyeball it and wing it?

Just curious.

I read the words from the bottom up and then scan for pairs. It's usually the case where I have three pretty solid matches and then there are a couple of words that could match as a 4th. Then I search for another set of words before I commit to that set. I try to get three sets with at least two word matches and then go process of elimination. Often I pick four and one is wrong. Sometimes two are wrong. Occasionally the purple is obvious but that's rare.

[DaveBrown74]

I read the words from the bottom up and then scan for pairs. It's usually the case where I have three pretty solid matches and then there are a couple of words that could match as a 4th. Then I search for another set of words before I commit to that set. I try to get three sets with at least two word matches and then go process of elimination. Often I pick four and one is wrong. Sometimes two are wrong. Occasionally the purple is obvious but that's rare.

Not too dissimilar from me.

I read through the whole thing once ideally without rushing - sometimes twice - and try to spend a few seconds thinking about each word and potential multiple meanings it might have. Once I've gone through that, on most days, I can usually get one right away. Obviously some days are harder than others. Once I get that first one it's generally a process of finding pairs or possibly sets of three that I feel pretty good about and then finding the best candidate(s) for the last word(s).

I think I've mentioned this before, but one thing I try to do is when I think I have one dead right, and then it's wrong, and it's early in the puzzle, I try to move away from that category altogether and find something else. Too many times when I first started doing Connections I'd get stuck on one idea, and then it turned out the whole idea was wrong. By cutting my losses with a given theme when I get it wrong once, I have found the results seem to be better than when I keep using up guesses by just swapping out one word for another. Obviously if it's later in the puzzle you may not have any other option, but I try to avoid that when it's early.

[Ed Vette]

Not too dissimilar from me.

I read through the whole thing once ideally without rushing - sometimes twice - and try to spend a few seconds thinking about each word and potential multiple meanings it might have. Once I've gone through that, on most days, I can usually get one right away. Obviously some days are harder than others. Once I get that first one it's generally a process of finding pairs or possibly sets of three that I feel pretty good about and then finding the best candidate(s) for the last word(s).

I think I've mentioned this before, but one thing I try to do is when I think I have one dead right, and then it's wrong, and it's early in the puzzle, I try to move away from that category altogether and find something else. Too many times when I first started doing Connections I'd get stuck on one idea, and then it turned out the whole idea was wrong. By cutting my losses with a given theme when I get it wrong once, I have found the results seem to be better than when I keep using up guesses by just swapping out one word for another. Obviously if it's later in the puzzle you may not have any other option, but I try to avoid that when it's early.

I do that sometimes too but I do get caught with the wrong theme and burn lives. I will also leave it and comeback as I do with Strands and then something becomes clear.

[DaveBrown74]

Fell for the trap on the first guess.

Connections
Puzzle #350
🟩🟪🟦🟨
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪

[Ed Vette]

Connections
Puzzle #350
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪