The New York Times’ daily Connections puzzle challenges players to find groups of four words linked by a common theme. Today’s puzzle (#930) tested players with a mix of straightforward and deceptive categories, including a particularly tricky purple group requiring hidden wordplay.
Hints and Solutions
Here’s a breakdown of the solutions, progressing from the easiest to the most difficult category:
Yellow Category: Airline Classes
The four words are business, economy, first, and premium. These represent different tiers of seating available on commercial flights.
Green Category: Attribute
The solution set includes cite, credit, name, and reference. These all function as ways to assign or acknowledge something to a source.
Blue Category: Vocation
The answers are calling, craft, line, and trade. These terms all describe types of work or professions.
Purple Category: Ending with Alcoholic Beverages
This category is the most challenging, relying on hidden meanings within the words. The correct answers are decider (cider), namesake (sake), report (port), and villager (lager). Each word contains the name of an alcoholic drink when read in reverse or by breaking it down into syllables.
Tracking Progress with the NYT Connections Bot
The Times now offers a “Connections Bot” that analyzes player performance, including puzzle completion rates, perfect scores, and win streaks. This feature caters to dedicated players who enjoy quantifying their progress.
Conclusion: Today’s NYT Connections puzzle provided a satisfying mental exercise, culminating in a particularly clever purple category that highlighted the game’s ability to blend vocabulary with wordplay. The inclusion of the tracking bot further enhances the experience for dedicated players.
