The Saturday edition of NYT Connections arrives with puzzle #923, serving up a grid that rewards music knowledge and wordplay prowess. Today's challenge particularly favors British rock enthusiasts and those who can spot sneaky compound word patterns.
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 #923:
CURE | TIN | BOTTOM | SALT
LOBSTER | FOLD | FALL | DRY
BUCKET | CLASH | PRESS | DRUM
WASH | CAN | DAMNED | MUSIC
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Green Category Nudge: What happens to your clothes after you drop them off. Services at the laundromat.
Yellow Category Clue: Things that hold stuff. Vessels for storage.
Blue Category Hint: Think British punk and post-punk. Add "THE" to the front of each.
Purple Category Teaser: What comes before each word? A certain hard substance ties them together.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
Green (Laundry Services): DRY, FOLD, PRESS, WASH
Straightforward once you picture a trip to the cleaners. Each word represents something done to your clothes: WASH them clean, DRY them out, PRESS out the wrinkles, and FOLD them neatly. The everyday domesticity makes this one click quickly for anyone who's ever done laundry.
Yellow (Containers): BUCKET, CAN, DRUM, TIN
Here's where you needed to think about storage vessels. All four represent things that hold other things. DRUM might've initially looked musical, and CAN could've seemed like a verb, but that's classic Connections misdirection. Each is simply a container.
Blue (British Bands Formed in the 1970s, with "THE"): CLASH, CURE, DAMNED, FALL
Music historians likely breezed through this one. Add "THE" before each word and you get four legendary British bands: The Clash, The Cure, The Damned, and The Fall. All emerged from the UK's fertile 1970s punk and post-punk scene. CURE might've initially looked like it belonged with medical terms, but that's the game's trademark trickery.
Purple (Rock ____): BOTTOM, LOBSTER, MUSIC, SALT
Today's purple category earns its notorious difficulty through compound word completion. Each word follows "ROCK" to form a common phrase: ROCK BOTTOM, ROCK LOBSTER, ROCK MUSIC, ROCK SALT. The B-52s reference in LOBSTER makes this especially devious, your brain wants to group it with seafood entirely. Devious, elegant, and quintessentially purple.
The Verdict
Puzzle #923registers as moderate difficulty with a sting in the tail. Green falls quickly for anyone familiar with laundry day, while yellow requires seeing past the musical red herring in DRUM. Blue separates the music buffs from casual listeners. Purple, predictably, is the streak-ender, that "ROCK ____" compound trick won't reveal itself without serious lateral thinking.
The real trap today? DRUM desperately wanting to be grouped with MUSIC, or SALT looking like it belongs in a cooking-themed category. Classic Connections misdirection.
Reset and Repeat
Tomorrow's puzzle drops at midnight in your timezone. Until then, reflect on today's performance: Did the British bands click immediately, or did purple's rock compounds claim another victim? The beauty lies not in perfection but in training your brain to spot these hidden patterns.
For now, puzzle #923 is solved. See you at midnight for round #924.
