The Tuesday edition of NYT Connections arrives with puzzle #940, serving up a grid that rewards poker knowledge and linguistic versatility. Today's challenge particularly favors card sharks and those who can spot subtle thematic patterns across seemingly unrelated terms.
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 #940:
PARTY | BOAT | QUARTERS | QUADS
CLEAR | BALLOON | FLUSH | STUFFED
RICH | PACK | PAD | DEEP
FLAT | FULL | STRAIGHT | DIGS
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about where you might live or crash for the night.
Green Category Clue: These words describe sound quality or tonal characteristics.
Blue Category Hint: Card players will recognize these as winning combinations.
Purple Category Teaser: Each word can precede "animal" to form a common phrase.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Apartment): DIGS, FLAT, PAD, QUARTERS
All four terms are informal or slang expressions for living spaces or accommodations. "Digs" and "pad" are casual terms for one's home, while "flat" is British English for apartment and "quarters" refers to assigned living spaces.
Green (Sonorous): CLEAR, DEEP, FULL, RICH
These adjectives describe sound quality, particularly in audio engineering or musical contexts. Each term characterizes different aspects of sound: clarity, bass response, body, and warmth respectively.
Blue (Poker Hands, Familiarly): BOAT, FLUSH, QUADS, STRAIGHT
Poker enthusiasts will recognize these as nicknames for specific winning hands. "Boat" is short for full house, "flush" for five cards of the same suit, "quads" for four of a kind, and "straight" for five consecutive cards.
Purple (___ Animal): BALLOON, PACK, PARTY, STUFFED
Each word forms a common phrase when combined with "animal." "Balloon animal" refers to twisted balloon sculptures, "pack animal" to beasts of burden, "party animal" to someone who loves social events, and "stuffed animal" to plush toys.
The Verdict
Puzzle #940 registers as moderate difficulty with a clever thematic spread. Yellow falls quickly for anyone familiar with housing slang, while green requires thinking about audio terminology.
Blue separates the poker players from the casual observers. Purple, predictably, is the streak-ender, requiring players to think about common animal-related phrases rather than literal animals.
The real trap lies in words like "PACK" and "PARTY" that could easily fit into multiple categories - "pack" could relate to cards or living situations, while "party" might seem like it belongs with social terms rather than animal phrases.
Reset and Repeat
Tomorrow's puzzle drops at midnight in your timezone. Until then, reflect on today's performance: did the poker hands category catch you off guard, or did you immediately spot the apartment synonyms?
The beauty lies not in perfection but in training your brain to spot these hidden patterns.
For now, puzzle #940 is solved. See you at midnight for round #941.
