The Sunday edition of NYT Connections arrives with puzzle #1141, serving up a grid that rewards everyday observation, gadget nostalgia, weatherwise vocabulary, and a sharp eye for flexible definitions.
What Makes Connections Tick
For newcomers, NYT Connections presents 16 words that must be sorted into four thematic groups of four. The twist? You're limited to four mistakes, and the color-coded difficulty system (yellow being easiest, purple being trickiest) means surface-level connections often mislead.
Since its June 2023 launch, Connections has carved out its niche in the Times' puzzle ecosystem, standing alongside Wordle and the crossword as a daily ritual for millions of players worldwide. The game's genius lies in its red herrings, words that could fit multiple categories but belong in only one.
Today's Grid at a Glance
Here are the 16 words staring back at you in puzzle #1141:
SOLID FOOD | PASTRY CRUST | ROLLING OVER | LIQUID SUNSHINE
PLASMA TV | SCOTCH MIST | BLACKBERRY | GAS STATION
ROWING BOAT | FIRST WORDS | APRIL SHOWERS | DISCMAN
WET WEATHER | CARAPACE | DVD PLAYER | CRAWLING
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about the sequence of changes families eagerly record during a child's earliest months.
Green Category Clue: Picture an electronics drawer or entertainment center that has not been cleared out in years.
Blue Category Hint: Look for several colorful ways to describe the same kind of damp forecast.
Purple Category Teaser: One familiar noun can identify an outer covering, a business, something baked, or a vessel.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
---
---
---
---
---
Yellow (Baby Milestones): CRAWLING, FIRST WORDS, ROLLING OVER, SOLID FOOD
CRAWLING, FIRST WORDS, ROLLING OVER, and SOLID FOOD are BABY MILESTONES, the memorable developmental steps that families often track during infancy.
BLACKBERRY creates a genuine food-language decoy beside SOLID FOOD, even though it belongs with the older devices.
Green (Outmoded Consumer Tech): BLACKBERRY, DISCMAN, DVD PLAYER, PLASMA TV
BLACKBERRY, DISCMAN, DVD PLAYER, and PLASMA TV form OUTMODED CONSUMER TECH. They span mobile communication, portable music, home video, and television, giving the set a broad electronics-store feel.
Blue (Expressions For Rain): APRIL SHOWERS, LIQUID SUNSHINE, SCOTCH MIST, WET WEATHER
APRIL SHOWERS, LIQUID SUNSHINE, SCOTCH MIST, and WET WEATHER are EXPRESSIONS FOR RAIN. The set mixes a seasonal phrase, a cheerful euphemism, a term for fine drizzle, and a plain description.
Purple (What "shell" Might Refer To): CARAPACE, GAS STATION, PASTRY CRUST, ROWING BOAT
CARAPACE, GAS STATION, PASTRY CRUST, and ROWING BOAT answer WHAT "SHELL" MIGHT REFER TO. A shell can be an animal's carapace, a Shell-branded gas station, a pastry casing, or a narrow rowing vessel.
The Verdict
The baby milestones should fall first because all four entries describe recognizable early developmental steps.
The real trap is food-shaped: BLACKBERRY can sit enticingly beside SOLID FOOD and PASTRY CRUST, but those three entries ultimately land in three different groups.
The purple group decides streaks because the solver must recognize four distinct senses of "shell" rather than a shared subject among the entries themselves.
Reset and Repeat
Today's standout move was turning "shell" into four different kinds of answer, a clean reminder to test alternate definitions when ordinary themes run dry. Reset the grid instincts and come back tomorrow for another round.
For now, puzzle #1141 is solved. See you at midnight for the next round.
