**Connections: The New York Times Word Game That Everyone Is Raving About**
**Connections** has swiftly gained popularity as one of the top word games from the *New York Times*, enchanting players with its clever puzzles. Much like *Wordle*, this game refreshes daily at midnight, presenting a new challenge that becomes progressively more difficult. Should you find yourself at a standstill, we have hints, tips, and strategies ready to assist—or feel free to jump to the end for today’s solution.
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### What is Connections?
The *New York Times*’ newest word game has taken the online world by storm. Developed with assistance from associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu, **Connections** encourages players to discover “commonalities among words.” Accessible on both web and mobile platforms, the game tasks you with categorizing four words that relate to a shared theme.
Each puzzle comprises 16 words, sorted into four distinct categories. These categories may include book titles, country names, software, and more. Although several words might appear to fit together, each grouping has only one correct solution.
Upon correctly identifying a set of four words, they are eliminated from the board. However, proceed with caution—each incorrect guess counts as a mistake, and you are limited to four mistakes before the game concludes. To assist you further, you can shuffle the board to visualize connections better.
The game also includes a color-coded difficulty scheme: yellow is the simplest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Similar to *Wordle*, you can share your outcomes with friends on social media.
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### Hints for Today’s Connections Categories
In need of a little guidance? Here are some hints for today’s categories:
– **Yellow:** Quick movement or speed
– **Green:** Pleasurable activities or thrills
– **Blue:** Expressions used to commence a letter
– **Purple:** Complete expressions linked to “name”
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### Today’s Connections Categories
If you require additional assistance, here are today’s categories:
– **Yellow:** Move Rapidly
– **Green:** Enjoyable Times
– **Blue:** Words Preceding An Addressee
– **Purple:** Name___
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### Today’s Connections Solution
Prepared for the answers? This is your final chance to look away before we unveil today’s solution. Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s **Connections** #571 is:
– **Move Rapidly:** BOLT, DART, DASH, FLY
– **Enjoyable Times:** BALL, BLAST, KICK, THRILL
– **Words Preceding An Addressee:** ATTENTION, DEAR, FOR, TO
– **Name___:** BRAND, DROP, GAME, NAMES
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### Don’t Be Discouraged if You Didn’t Figure It Out
If today’s puzzle challenged you, don’t fret—tomorrow is a new day! A fresh **Connections** puzzle will be available to stimulate your mind, and we’ll be here with more tips and solutions to assist you.
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**Seeking More Games?**
If you enjoy puzzles, visit Mashable’s [games hub](https://games.mashable.com/) for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crosswords, and additional games. And if you’re also engaging with *NYT Strands*, [here are today’s hints and solutions](https://mashable.com/article/strands-nyt-hint-december-27).
Missed the previous day’s puzzle? [Here’s the solution for yesterday’s Connections.](https://mashable.com/article/nyt-connections-sports-edition-hint-answer-today-december-31)
Happy puzzling!