The Thursday edition of NYT Connections arrives with puzzle #984, serving up a grid that rewards pop culture knowledge and linguistic dexterity. Today's challenge particularly favors 70s disco enthusiasts and those who can spot sneaky homophones hiding in plain sight.
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 #984:
PEEPS | POKER | DISCO | STU
SHOVEL | BRAYS | BASKET | BELLOWS
BOYLE | JOHN TRAVOLTA | TONGS | DYE
PLATFORM SHOES | EGGS | SEER | POLYESTER SUIT
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about springtime traditions and what you might need for a certain holiday celebration.
Green Category Clue: These are tools you'd find near a traditional fireplace or wood-burning stove.
Blue Category Hint: This category celebrates a specific 1970s cultural phenomenon and its iconic elements.
Purple Category Teaser: Listen carefully to these words, they sound like different cooking methods but aren't spelled that way.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Easter Supplies): BASKET, DYE, EGGS, PEEPS
These four words form a straightforward Easter-themed category.
Basket holds the eggs, dye colors them, and Peeps are the iconic marshmallow treats that complete the holiday spread.
Green (Fireplace Accessories): BELLOWS, POKER, SHOVEL, TONGS
Classic fireplace tools that handle different aspects of fire management.
Bellows stoke the flames, poker rearranges logs, shovel removes ashes, and tongs handle hot coals, a complete toolkit for any hearth.
Blue (Elements of "Saturday Night Fever"): DISCO, JOHN TRAVOLTA, PLATFORM SHOES, POLYESTER SUIT
This category captures the essence of the 1977 disco film that defined an era.
John Travolta starred as Tony Manero, dancing in platform shoes and polyester suits to disco music, an iconic quartet that screams 70s nightlife.
Purple (Homophones of Ways to Cook Something): BOYLE, BRAYS, SEER, STU
The trickiest category relies on phonetic wordplay.
Boyle sounds like "boil," brays like "braise," seer like "sear," and Stu like "stew", each word phonetically matches a cooking method while being spelled completely differently.
The Verdict
Puzzle #984 registers as moderate difficulty with a sting in the tail.
Yellow falls quickly for anyone who recognizes holiday traditions, while green requires thinking about your fireplace maintenance.
Blue separates the pop culture buffs from the casual observers.
Purple, predictably, is the streak-ender, that homophone trick won't reveal itself without serious lateral thinking.
The real trap lies in words like "PEEPS" and "EGGS" that could mislead solvers toward breakfast or candy categories, while "STU" and "SEER" appear completely random until the homophone pattern clicks.
"JOHN TRAVOLTA" and "PLATFORM SHOES" scream disco era, but connecting them to "POLYESTER SUIT" requires specific cultural knowledge of Saturday Night Fever's iconic wardrobe.
Reset and Repeat
Tomorrow's puzzle drops at midnight in your timezone.
Until then, reflect on today's performance: did you spot the Easter supplies immediately, or did the fireplace tools trip you up?
The beauty lies not in perfection but in training your brain to spot these hidden patterns.
For now, puzzle #984 is solved.
See you at midnight for round #985.
