The Wednesday edition of NYT Connections arrives with puzzle #976, serving up a grid that rewards financial literacy and romantic vocabulary. Today's challenge particularly favors those who can spot both economic terms and lovestruck expressions while navigating some clever physical object misdirection.
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 #976:
NET | RINK | MOON | CAKE
RETURN | PUCK | BLOCK | GAIN
PINE | BRICK | COASTER | BAG
DERBY | SWOON | YIELD | YEARN
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about how people act when they're hopelessly in love.
Green Category Clue: These terms all relate to financial outcomes or profits.
Blue Category Hint: Consider solid objects that come in defined, often rectangular shapes.
Purple Category Teaser: Each of these words can follow "roller" to create a common phrase.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Act lovestruck): MOON, PINE, SWOON, YEARN
These four verbs all describe behaviors associated with being deeply infatuated or longing for someone. "Moon" and "pine" suggest pining away, while "swoon" and "yearn" capture the emotional intensity of romantic desire.
Green (Earnings): GAIN, NET, RETURN, YIELD
This financial quartet represents different ways to describe profits or income. "Net" and "gain" refer to profit amounts, while "return" and "yield" describe investment outcomes.
Blue (Compact mass): BLOCK, BRICK, CAKE, PUCK
These are all solid objects that come in dense, often rectangular forms. The connection lies in their physical properties rather than their specific uses.
Purple (Roller ___): BAG, COASTER, DERBY, RINK
Each word completes the phrase "roller ___" to form common terms. Roller bag, roller coaster, roller derby, and roller rink all share this construction pattern.
The Verdict
Puzzle #976 registers as moderate difficulty with a clever linguistic twist. Yellow falls quickly for anyone who recognizes romantic vocabulary, while green requires basic financial literacy.
Blue separates those who think about physical properties from those focused on specific uses. Purple, predictably, is the streak-ender, requiring players to spot the "roller ___" construction pattern.
The real trap lies in words like "block" and "brick" that could mislead solvers into thinking about construction or sports rather than physical properties. Similarly, "net" and "return" have strong sports associations that distract from their financial meanings.
Reset and Repeat
Tomorrow's puzzle drops at midnight in your timezone. Until then, reflect on today's performance: did you spot the financial terms immediately, or did the romantic vocabulary throw you off?
The beauty lies not in perfection but in training your brain to spot these hidden patterns.
For now, puzzle #976 is solved. See you at midnight for round #977.
