4 mistakes left.
Four colors, one ladder
The colors are difficulty, from the plainest link to the one you solve last.
Yellow
The direct category: suits, seasons, planets, breeds.
Green
A real theme that is one step less obvious than yellow.
Blue
Often a missing word in front of or behind each tile.
Purple
Spelling, homophones, or a phrase that hides the link.
One away still costs a guess
If three words match and one does not, the board says one away. Change the outsider. Shuffle only the words still on the grid when a pair is blocking the pattern.
The connections hint method names the link before it names the four words. Today's ladder is on the hints today page.
Hints, answers, and other boards
- Hint levels
How yellow, green, blue, and purple hints differ.
- Today's answers
The four groups for the current practice board.
- Sports board
A 16-word grid where every category is a sport.
- Date archive
Practice boards for September and October dates.
- Strands
How the Times word search differs from this grid.
- Reddit
How to open the daily thread without a spoiler.
Questions
How does this Connections board work?
Select four words that share a link and press Submit. A correct group locks in and shows its category. You can miss four times.
What does one away mean?
One away means three of the four words you picked belong to the same group. Swap the outsider and try again. That guess still costs a mistake.
Is this the official New York Times puzzle?
No. Connections Desk writes original practice boards in the same format. The Times publishes the official daily puzzle on nytimes.com.
Which color is the hardest?
Purple is the hardest group. It is usually sound, spelling, or a phrase with a word that is not on the grid. Yellow is the most direct group.