Each day's game of NYT Connections goes live at midnight local time. Before today's NYT Connections hints, here's what you missed on Sunday:
Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to the start of a new week. I hope it's a positive one for you.
Let's make sure things get off to a good start. A fun, upbeat song can help with that! It can boost your mood and energy, and maybe even get you singing and dancing a bit. I hope you're already smiling, but maybe this tune will turn that into a full-on grin.
I'm a little annoyed with myself for not going to a Chloe Qisha show on Friday - I decided to stay home and watch the Toronto Blue Jays opener instead (which I did enjoy, to be fair). Qisha has been releasing some very fun alt-pop songs. "So Sad So Hot" is no exception to that:
Before we start, I want to highlight the rad community we have on Discord, where we chat about Connections, the rest of the NYT games and all kinds of other stuff. It's a lovely group of folks. You're more than welcome to join us.
Also, my weekend editions of this column are available over on my newsletter, Pastimes. If you enjoy the intros and recommendations in my Connections columns, I publish longer pieces along similar lines on Pastimes as well. I think you'd dig them.
Today's NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, March 30 are coming right up. Let's get rolling!
NYT Connections - How To Play
Connections is a free New York Times daily word game that you can play on the NYT's website or Games app. If you have an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the Connections archive, which includes every previous game.
Connections presents you with a grid of 16 words (sometimes phrases, symbols or numbers). The aim is to arrange them into four groups of four. You don't know how they hit together or what the category for each group is: that's what you have to figure out.
There's only one correct solution and there are often red herrings. You can guess incorrectly three times. A fourth wrong guess, and it's game over.
Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to deduce, followed by blue, green and purple. Often, the yellow and green groups have synonyms, the blues have cultural references and the purples have some kind of wordplay involved. But this is not a hard and fast rule. Be ready for curveballs - part of the fun of Connections is in how the NYT shakes things up to keep you on your toes.
As with Wordle and similar games, it's easy to share results with your friends using an emoji-based grid. The game tracks your progress too.
Many players take pride in having long win streaks or getting a reverse rainbow - correctly guessing the purple, blue, green and yellow groups in that order with no mistakes. That adds an extra little challenge.
NYT Connections Hints - Today's Word List
Scroll slowly! I'll first give you a list of today's words, then a hint for each category. After that, I'll reveal one word that goes into each group. Then I'll tell you the category names, followed by the full answers.
Today's 16 words are...
- ERSATZ
- FRITZ
- TINKER
- TOY
- YUTZ
- FUTZ
- DOLLAR
- DUMMY
- HERTZ
- PLAYS
- MOCK
- MESS
- FAUX
- BUDGET
- TRUFFLES
- AVIS
NYT Connections Hints
And the hints for today's Connections groups are:
- 🟨 Yellow group -- not the real deal
- 🟩 Green group -- adjust something for fun
- 🟦 Blue group -- often useful when you need to make your own way
- 🟪 Purple group -- craving a little extra something between meals
NYT Connections Hints - One Answer Per Group
Need some extra help?
Be warned: we're starting to get into spoiler territory.
Let's take a look at one answer for each group.
Here we go...
- 🟨 Yellow group -- MOCK
- 🟩 Green group -- MESS
- 🟦 Blue group -- HERTZ
- 🟪 Purple group -- TRUFFLES
NYT Connections Hints - Groups/Categories
Today's Connections groups are...
- 🟨 Yellow group -- imitation
- 🟩 Green group -- play around (with)
- 🟦 Blue group -- car rental companies
- 🟪 Purple group -- snack brands plus starting letter
NYT 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 last chance to look away.
This is your final warning!
Today's Connections answers are...
- 🟨 Yellow group -- imitation (DUMMY, ERSATZ, FAUX, MOCK)
- 🟩 Green group -- play around (with) (FUTZ, MESS, TINKER, TOY)
- 🟦 Blue group -- car rental companies (AVIS, BUDGET, DOLLAR, HERTZ)
- 🟪 Purple group -- snack brands plus starting letter (FRITZ, PLAYS, TRUFFLES, YUTZ)
I felt like I had to take a considered approach to this one at first glance because I had no idea what YUTZ meant. FUTZ is one I do know, and that helped me get the greens.
I found the right frequency for HERTZ by lining it up with the rest of the car rental companies. ERSATZ then opened up what had to be the yellows, but of course I had to submit the purples first.
I probably should have figured out there was some wordplay going on here. I never remember that Utz is a brand until it shows up in Connections or I rewatch Mad Men. Anyway, that's win number 394 in a row for yours truly.
How did you get on today? Here's my grid:
🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟨🟨🟨🟨
The first three groups are all spelled out thanks to the category titles, so I don't have a ton of scope for an Answers Explained column today. The purples refer to:
- FRITZ > Ritz (savory crackers)
- PLAYS > Lays (potato chips)
- TRUFFLES > Ruffles (potato chips)
- YUTZ > Utz (potato chips, pretzels, popcorn, pork rinds etc)
That's all there is to it for today's Connections clues and answers.
P.S. "Brain Stew" was a term in last Monday's edition of Connections and it's also the title of one of my favorite Green Day songs. I neglected to use it for last Monday's recommendation, so I'm making up for that right now:
Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!
Please follow my blog for more NYT Connections hints and help with 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. You can also read my weekend editions of this column at my newsletter, Pastimes.