The Monday edition of NYT Connections arrives with puzzle #967, serving up a grid that rewards crime fiction fans and lateral thinkers. Today's challenge particularly favors those who can spot modern detective protagonists and clever wordplay 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 #967:
POPULAR | PERIOD | CROSS | STAMP
SPAN | PSALM | PASS | RYAN
LANYARD | STRETCH | REACHER | MARPLE
FAIR | INTERVAL | WRISTBAND | BOSCH
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about measurements of time or distance.
Green Category Clue: Items that grant you access to places or events.
Blue Category Hint: Contemporary crime fighters from popular book and TV series.
Purple Category Teaser: Look for tree names with one letter added.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Duration): INTERVAL, PERIOD, SPAN, STRETCH
These four words all describe specific lengths or extents of time. While "STRETCH" can refer to physical extension, in this context it joins the temporal trio as a synonym for a continuous period.
Green (Credentials for Entry): LANYARD, PASS, STAMP, WRISTBAND
Each item serves as physical proof of permission or authorization. From conference badges to concert access, these are the tangible tokens that say "you belong here."
Blue (Modern Crime Series Protagonists): BOSCH, CROSS, REACHER, RYAN
These are all contemporary detective characters from popular crime fiction. Harry Bosch (Michael Connelly), Alex Cross (James Patterson), Jack Reacher (Lee Child), and Jack Ryan (Tom Clancy) represent four distinct franchises that have dominated the genre.
Purple (Trees Plus a Letter): FAIR, MARPLE, POPULAR, PSALM
The trickiest category requires adding one letter to tree names: FAIR (FIR + A), MARPLE (MAPLE + R), POPULAR (POPLAR + U), PSALM (PALM + S). This is classic Connections wordplay that separates casual solvers from pattern recognition masters.
The Verdict
Puzzle #967 registers as moderate difficulty with a clever purple twist. Yellow falls quickly for anyone who recognizes temporal synonyms, while green requires thinking about access control items.
Blue separates the crime fiction enthusiasts from casual readers. Purple, predictably, is the streak-ender - that tree-plus-letter pattern won't reveal itself without serious lateral thinking.
The real trap lies in words like "CROSS" and "PASS" that could mislead toward religious themes, or "STAMP" and "PERIOD" that might suggest punctuation. "MARPLE" could easily be mistaken for Miss Marple rather than the maple tree connection, creating a classic red herring.
Reset and Repeat
Tomorrow's puzzle drops at midnight in your timezone. Until then, reflect on today's performance: did you spot the crime protagonists immediately, or did the tree wordplay stump you?
The beauty lies not in perfection but in training your brain to spot these hidden patterns.
For now, puzzle #967 is solved. See you at midnight for round #968.
