The Wednesday edition of NYT Connections arrives with puzzle #983, serving up a grid that rewards retro culture knowledge and agricultural terminology. Today's challenge particularly favors those who remember 80s slang and can spot sneaky poultry descriptors.
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 #983:
HEAVY | CRESTED | BAD | FEATHER
FLY | TEASE | BANTAM | TOPICAL
CURL | SOUR | WICKED | LEGHORN
SHAVING | CRIMP | FREE-RANGE | RAD
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about hairstyles that were popular in the 80s and 90s.
Green Category Clue: These words all meant "cool" or "excellent" in different decades.
Blue Category Hint: These terms describe different types or characteristics of chickens.
Purple Category Teaser: Each of these words can precede "cream" to form a common phrase.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Retro Hair Directives): CRIMP, CURL, FEATHER, TEASE
These four words all refer to specific hair styling techniques that were particularly popular in the 70s and 80s.
Crimping creates zigzag waves, curling adds spiral texture, feathering involves layered cutting, and teasing (or backcombing) adds volume at the roots.
Green (Retro Slang for Cool): BAD, FLY, RAD, WICKED
This category collects slang terms that all meant "cool" or "excellent" across different decades and subcultures.
"Bad" ironically meant good in 70s funk culture, "fly" emerged from 80s hip-hop, "rad" was quintessential 80s skate/surf slang, and "wicked" served as New England's positive intensifier.
Blue (Chicken Descriptors): BANTAM, CRESTED, FREE-RANGE, LEGHORN
These terms all describe specific types or characteristics of chickens.
Bantam refers to small chicken breeds, crested describes breeds with distinctive head feathers, free-range indicates chickens with outdoor access, and Leghorn is a specific breed known for egg production.
Purple (___ Cream): HEAVY, SHAVING, SOUR, TOPICAL
Each of these words can precede "cream" to form common phrases.
Heavy cream is a dairy product, shaving cream is for grooming, sour cream is a condiment, and topical cream refers to medicinal ointments applied to the skin.
The Verdict
Puzzle #983 registers as moderate difficulty with a clever thematic split.
Yellow falls quickly for anyone who remembers 80s hairstyles, while green requires thinking about slang evolution across decades.
Blue separates the agricultural enthusiasts from the casual observers.
Purple, predictably, is the streak-ender, the "cream" connection won't reveal itself without serious lateral thinking about common two-word phrases.
The real trap lies in words like "HEAVY" and "WICKED," which could easily mislead solvers into thinking about weight or morality rather than their specific category roles.
"CRESTED" might initially suggest birds in general rather than specifically chicken breeds, while "TOPICAL" could distract with its multiple meanings.
Reset and Repeat
Tomorrow's puzzle drops at midnight in your timezone.
Until then, reflect on today's performance: did the retro hair terms come naturally, or did the chicken descriptors stump you?
The beauty lies not in perfection but in training your brain to spot these hidden patterns.
For now, puzzle #983 is solved.
See you at midnight for round #984.
