The Sunday edition of NYT Connections arrives with puzzle #973, serving up a grid that rewards cybersecurity knowledge and linguistic pattern recognition. Today's challenge particularly favors tech-savvy solvers and those who can spot sneaky homophone connections.
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 #973:
TIMER | GAG | DRILL | BIT
ROUTINE | SYMBOL | CENTS | LENGTH
NUMBER | SILENCE | GRIND | MUZZLE
HABIT | FACED | INHIBIT | UPPERCASE
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about ways to quiet things down or stop communication.
Green Category Clue: These describe repetitive actions or established patterns in daily life.
Blue Category Hint: Consider what makes a password secure beyond just complexity.
Purple Category Teaser: Each of these words can follow "two" to form common phrases or expressions.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Suppress): GAG, INHIBIT, MUZZLE, SILENCE
All four words describe methods of preventing expression or communication.
GAG and MUZZLE are physical restraints, while INHIBIT and SILENCE represent psychological or social constraints.
Green (Same Old Stuff): DRILL, GRIND, HABIT, ROUTINE
These terms capture the essence of repetitive, established patterns in work or daily life.
The connection lies in their shared meaning of monotonous repetition or established procedures.
Blue (Features of a Strong Password): LENGTH, NUMBER, SYMBOL, UPPERCASE
This category targets cybersecurity awareness, listing four key characteristics of strong passwords.
Modern password guidelines emphasize including these elements to enhance security against brute-force attacks.
Purple (Words After "Two"): BIT, CENTS, FACED, TIMER
The trickiest category relies on recognizing phrases where each word follows "two."
Two-bit, two cents, two-faced, and two-timer form common expressions with distinct meanings, from cheapness to duplicity.
The Verdict
Puzzle #973 registers as moderate difficulty with a sting in the tail.
Yellow falls quickly for anyone who recognizes synonym clusters, while green requires thinking about your daily patterns.
Blue separates the cybersecurity-aware from the casual users.
Purple, predictably, is the streak-ender, that homophone trick won't reveal itself without serious lateral thinking.
The real trap lies in words like "BIT" and "CENTS" that could mislead solvers toward monetary categories, while "FACED" might suggest expressions or directions rather than its role in the "two-faced" idiom.
Reset and Repeat
Tomorrow's puzzle drops at midnight in your timezone.
Until then, reflect on today's performance: did the password security category click immediately, or did the "two" phrases require extra mental gymnastics?
The beauty lies not in perfection but in training your brain to spot these hidden patterns.
For now, puzzle #973 is solved.
See you at midnight for round #974.
