**Connections: The New York Times Word Game Captivating the Online Community**
*Connections*, the newest word game from the *New York Times*, has rapidly won the hearts of puzzle lovers. Similar to *Wordle*, this game invites participants to uncover “common links among words.” With a new puzzle unveiled each day at midnight, the challenge intensifies as the week advances. If you find yourself at a standstill, we offer hints and strategies to assist you—and if you’re purely interested in today’s solution, scroll to the bottom for the November 21 answer.
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### What Is *Connections*?
This daily word game, crafted by *New York Times* associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu, has acquired a huge online following. Accessible on both web browsers and mobile devices, *Connections* requires players to cluster four words that are interconnected by a shared theme.
Each puzzle features 16 words that need to be categorized into four distinct groups. These groups can include anything from book titles to software names, countries, and beyond. While some words might appear to belong to multiple categories, there’s only one precise way to arrange them.
When a player successfully identifies a set of four, those words are eliminated from the board. However, incorrect selections are counted as mistakes, and players are allowed only four errors before the game concludes. To make gameplay easier, participants can shuffle the board for a new viewpoint. Each category is color-coded according to difficulty: yellow is the simplest, followed by green, blue, and purple. After completing the puzzle, you can share your results with friends on social media—mirroring the experience of *Wordle*.
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### Tips for Today’s Puzzle
Need a push in the right direction? Here are some clues for today’s categories:
– **Yellow:** Think about different shirt types.
– **Green:** Consider popular additions to milk tea.
– **Blue:** Focus on aquatic animals.
– **Purple:** Search for words that could begin pasta names.
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### Today’s *Connections* Categories
If you’re still stuck, here are the specific categories for today’s puzzle:
– **Yellow:** Types of Shirts
– **Green:** Items in Milk Tea
– **Blue:** Aquatic Invertebrates, Commonly
– **Purple:** Prefixes of Pasta Names
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### The Solution to Today’s *Connections* (#529)
Ready for the answers? Here’s the solution to today’s puzzle:
– **Types of Shirts:** FLANNEL, OXFORD, POLO, TEE
– **Items in Milk Tea:** BOBA, BUBBLE, PEARL, TAPIOCA
– **Aquatic Invertebrates, Commonly:** CORAL, JELLY, SPONGE, STAR
– **Prefixes of Pasta Names:** FETT, PENN, TORTE, ZIT
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Don’t fret if you didn’t crack it this time—there’s always tomorrow! A fresh *Connections* puzzle will be waiting for you, and we’ll be here with more hints and solutions to help you along.
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### Searching for More Games?
If you’re a puzzle enthusiast, visit Mashable’s [games hub](https://games.mashable.com/) for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crosswords, and more. And if you’re also engaged in *Wordle* or *Strands*, we’ve got hints and solutions for those as well.
Missed yesterday’s *Connections*? [Here’s the solution for November 20.](https://mashable.com/article/nyt-connections-hint-answer-today-november-20)