**All You Should Know About the NYT’s Trending Word Game, *Connections***
*Connections* has rapidly become one of the favorite word games from the *New York Times*, enchanting players with its distinctive challenge of finding “common threads among words.” Similar to *Wordle*, *Connections* resets each day at midnight, presenting players with a fresh puzzle that includes a progressively challenging assortment of words. If you’re feeling stuck, we offer hints, tips, and strategies to assist you—or you can jump to the conclusion for today’s answer.
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### **What is *Connections*?**
The *New York Times*’ newest word game has taken the social media landscape by storm. Developed with the assistance of associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu, *Connections* is a daily puzzle featured in the *Times*’ Games section. It’s available through web browsers and mobile devices, inviting players to categorize four words that share a common theme.
Each puzzle consists of 16 words, organized into four categories. These categories can include everything from book titles to software names, countries, and beyond. While some words may appear to connect, there is only one correct grouping for each collection.
When players successfully identify a group of four, those words are eliminated from the board. However, incorrect guesses are counted as mistakes, with players allowed a maximum of four mistakes before the game concludes.
To facilitate play, players have the option to shuffle the board, rearranging the words. Each group is also color-coded by difficulty: yellow (easiest), followed by green, blue, and purple. Much like *Wordle*, players can share their scores with friends on social media platforms.
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### **Hints for Today’s *Connections* Categories**
Need a little guidance? Here are some hints for today’s puzzle:
– **Yellow:** *Upset*
– **Green:** *Active birds*
– **Blue:** *Television families*
– **Purple:** *Terms following “K”*
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### **Today’s *Connections* Categories**
Still uncertain? Here are the specific categories for today’s puzzle:
– **Yellow:** *Disheartened*
– **Green:** *Verbal Birds*
– **Blue:** *Families in TV Shows*
– **Purple:** *Words Following “K”*
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### **Today’s *Connections* Solution**
Ready for the answers? Here’s the solution to today’s *Connections* puzzle (#602):
– **Disheartened:** BLUE, DOWN, HANGDOG, SORRY
– **Verbal Birds:** DUCK, GROUSE, HAWK, SWALLOW
– **Families in TV Shows:** GRIFFIN, MUNSTER, PARTRIDGE, PICKLES
– **Words Following “K”:** MART, POP, STREET, SWISS
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### **Don’t Stress If You Didn’t Solve It**
If you weren’t able to solve today’s puzzle, don’t be discouraged! A new *Connections* puzzle will be available tomorrow, and we will return with more hints and answers to support you.
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### **Interested in More Games?**
If you enjoy puzzles, visit Mashable’s [games hub](https://games.mashable.com/) for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crosswords, and much more. You can also find clues and answers for other popular games like *Wordle* and *Strands*.
Want to look back at yesterday’s *Connections*? [Here’s the solution to yesterday’s puzzle.](https://mashable.com/article/nyt-connections-sports-edition-hint-answer-today-february-2)
Enjoy puzzling!