The Thursday edition of NYT Connections arrives with puzzle #1173, serving up a grid that rewards a feel for natural forces, strong reactions, muted color language, and compact wordplay.
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 #1173:
PIKACHU | SPUNK | NEMO | DOVE
MISTY | SLATE | LIGHTNING | ASH
PEWTER | BROCK | EMOTIONAL | LIVE WIRE
OVERCOME | ELECTRIC EEL | WRAP | CHOKED UP
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about things associated with a sudden burst of energy.
Green Category Clue: Look for language that describes a strong reaction when feelings rise to the surface.
Blue Category Hint: A paint or design swatch could help, especially in the quieter part of the palette.
Purple Category Teaser: Read each entry as something that can be split differently, with a small piece doing extra work.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Electric Things): ELECTRIC EEL, LIGHTNING, LIVE WIRE, PIKACHU
ELECTRIC EEL, LIGHTNING, LIVE WIRE, and PIKACHU are ELECTRIC THINGS, covering an animal, a natural discharge, an energized conductor, and a fictional creature known for electrical attacks.
PIKACHU also forms a convincing Pokémon decoy with ASH, MISTY, and BROCK, but those four entries belong to four different final groups.
Green (Moved To Tears): CHOKED UP, EMOTIONAL, MISTY, OVERCOME
CHOKED UP, EMOTIONAL, MISTY, and OVERCOME all describe someone MOVED TO TEARS. MISTY works through the familiar idea of misty eyes, while OVERCOME points to emotion becoming too strong to contain.
MISTY is the sharpest red herring here because it joins PIKACHU, ASH, and BROCK in the Pokémon decoy.
Blue (Shades Of Gray): ASH, DOVE, PEWTER, SLATE
ASH, DOVE, PEWTER, and SLATE are SHADES OF GRAY, each drawn from the color associated with its namesake material, object, or animal.
ASH creates another branch of the Pokémon decoy, while SLATE can also suggest a board, stone, or clean start before its color sense comes into focus.
Purple (Music Genre Plus Starting Letter): BROCK, NEMO, SPUNK, WRAP
BROCK, NEMO, SPUNK, and WRAP fit MUSIC GENRE PLUS STARTING LETTER. Removing the first letter leaves ROCK, EMO, PUNK, and RAP.
The construction hides each genre inside an ordinary-looking entry, making the added initial feel natural until the shared pattern appears.
The Verdict
The yellow group is the cleanest opening path because ELECTRIC EEL, LIGHTNING, LIVE WIRE, and PIKACHU share a direct charge-based link.
The real trap is PIKACHU, ASH, MISTY, and BROCK, a coherent Pokémon set deliberately scattered across all four answers.
Purple is the streak-deciding group, since BROCK, NEMO, SPUNK, and WRAP only lock together after their first letters are peeled away.
Reset and Repeat
Today's standout move was hiding four music styles behind extra initials, a neat reminder to test the seams of ordinary-looking words. Reset the grid instincts and come back tomorrow for another round.
For now, puzzle #1173 is solved. See you at midnight for the next round.
