The Monday edition of NYT Connections arrives with puzzle #1163, serving up a grid that rewards fluency in workplace tech, music history, and a neat bit of hidden-word spotting.
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 #1163:
MACRO | MEET | DOLLY | DOGIE
ZOOM | CATTLE | FISHEYE | SCRIPT
WILLIE | BIRDIE | PATSY | FUNCTION
HUDDLE | FORMULA | JOHNNY | TEAMS
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about digital tools that let people speak face to face while sitting in different places.
Green Category Clue: Look toward tools that calculate, automate, and manipulate information arranged in rows and columns.
Blue Category Hint: These entries share a familiar part of how several celebrated performers are commonly known.
Purple Category Teaser: Inspect the beginnings of longer entries for familiar household companions hiding in plain sight.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Video Call Platforms): HUDDLE, MEET, TEAMS, ZOOM
HUDDLE, MEET, TEAMS, and ZOOM are VIDEO CALL PLATFORMS.
HUDDLE, MEET, and TEAMS also sound like ordinary ways for people to gather, which makes their shared technology connection less immediate.
Green (Spreadsheet Features): FORMULA, FUNCTION, MACRO, SCRIPT
FORMULA, FUNCTION, MACRO, and SCRIPT are SPREADSHEET FEATURES used to calculate values or automate work.
FUNCTION, MACRO, and SCRIPT also belong naturally in broader programming conversations, so FORMULA is the useful anchor.
Blue (First Names Of Country Music Legends): DOLLY, JOHNNY, PATSY, WILLIE
DOLLY, JOHNNY, PATSY, and WILLIE are FIRST NAMES OF COUNTRY MUSIC LEGENDS, referring to Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, and Willie Nelson.
CATTLE and DOGIE supply a convincing Western-flavored distraction, but neither is a performer's first name in the verified group.
Purple (Starting With Pets): BIRDIE, CATTLE, DOGIE, FISHEYE
BIRDIE, CATTLE, DOGIE, and FISHEYE are STARTING WITH PETS: BIRDIE begins with BIRD, CATTLE with CAT, DOGIE with DOG, and FISHEYE with FISH.
The trick depends on reading the opening letters rather than treating each entry as an indivisible word.
The Verdict
The video-call set should fall first once ZOOM anchors HUDDLE, MEET, and TEAMS.
The real trap sits between the music group and the Western flavor of CATTLE and DOGIE, while the programming overlap among FUNCTION, MACRO, and SCRIPT adds another plausible detour.
The purple group is the streak decider because spotting BIRD, CAT, DOG, and FISH at the front requires a clean shift from meaning to letter structure.
Reset and Repeat
The best final click is seeing four familiar companions tucked into the openings of otherwise unrelated words. Reset the grid tomorrow and look for another reason to stop reading entries only at face value.
For now, puzzle #1163 is solved. See you at midnight for the next round.
