The Wednesday edition of NYT Connections arrives with puzzle #941, serving up a grid that rewards flag knowledge and wordplay prowess. Today's challenge particularly favors those who can spot both literal and figurative connections across diverse domains.
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 #941:
STAKE | STAR | WINE | MIRROR
STRIPE | GARLIC | INTEREST | CROSS
SHARE | CIDER | DOUBLE | TROUSERS
CRESCENT | CLONE | CONCERN | RINGER
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about things that serve as perfect copies or substitutes.
Green Category Clue: Consider what you might have in a business or investment.
Blue Category Hint: Look for elements commonly found on national flags.
Purple Category Teaser: These items all undergo a specific mechanical process involving pressure.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Blue (Common Flag Symbols): CRESCENT, CROSS, STAR, STRIPE
These four words represent symbols frequently appearing on national flags worldwide.
The crescent moon appears on flags like Turkey and Pakistan, while the cross features prominently on Scandinavian and Commonwealth flags. Stars and stripes are perhaps the most recognizable, with the United States flag being the prime example.
Green (Portion): CONCERN, INTEREST, SHARE, STAKE
All four terms describe a portion or involvement in something, particularly in business contexts.
A stake represents ownership percentage, a share is a unit of ownership, interest denotes financial involvement, and concern indicates business involvement or worry about a matter.
Yellow (Doppelgänger): CLONE, DOUBLE, MIRROR, RINGER
This category collects words for duplicates or lookalikes.
A clone is an exact genetic copy, a double is an identical person, a mirror reflects an exact image, and a ringer is someone who closely resembles another person.
Purple (Pressed Using a Press): CIDER, GARLIC, TROUSERS, WINE
The trickiest category connects items that undergo pressing processes.
Cider comes from pressed apples, garlic uses a garlic press, trousers get pressed with an iron, and wine grapes are pressed to extract juice.
The Verdict
Puzzle #941 registers as moderate difficulty with a clever thematic twist.
Yellow falls quickly for anyone who recognizes synonym clusters for duplicates, while green requires thinking about financial and business terminology.
Blue separates the vexillology enthusiasts from casual observers, though the flag symbols are reasonably common knowledge.
Purple, predictably, is the streak-ender - the "pressed using a press" connection won't reveal itself without serious lateral thinking about mechanical processes.
The real trap lies in words like "stake" and "share" that could mislead solvers into financial categories while actually belonging to different groups.
Similarly, "mirror" might initially seem connected to "reflection" rather than its role as a duplicate-maker.
Reset and Repeat
Tomorrow's puzzle drops at midnight in your timezone.
Until then, reflect on today's performance: did you spot the flag symbols immediately, or did the "pressed" category stump you?
The beauty lies not in perfection but in training your brain to spot these hidden patterns.
For now, puzzle #941 is solved.
See you at midnight for round #942.
