The Monday edition of NYT Connections arrives with puzzle #988, serving up a grid that rewards holiday knowledge and wordplay prowess. Today's challenge particularly favors those who can spot sneaky synonyms and thematic connections across seemingly disparate concepts.
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 #988:
NEW YEAR'S EVE | VOLCANO | MASQUERADE | PARTY HAT
CHRISTMAS TREE | MISTLETOE | GORGE | BLUFF
POSTURE | CONE | WEDDING | BOLT
SCARF | BLARNEY STONE | INHALE | FRONT
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about how you might consume food with extreme speed or enthusiasm.
Green Category Clue: Look for objects that share a distinctive tapered shape.
Blue Category Hint: Consider different ways people might present themselves that aren't necessarily genuine.
Purple Category Teaser: These are all traditional or symbolic moments when people might exchange a kiss.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Eat Voraciously): BOLT, GORGE, INHALE, SCARF
All four words describe consuming food with exceptional speed or enthusiasm. "Scarf" as a verb meaning to eat quickly provides the clever wordplay that makes this category work.
Green (Conical Things): CHRISTMAS TREE, CONE, PARTY HAT, VOLCANO
Each item features a distinctive conical or tapered shape. The Christmas tree and volcano share the classic cone silhouette, while party hats and traffic cones maintain the geometric theme.
Blue (Pose): BLUFF, FRONT, MASQUERADE, POSTURE
These words all describe presenting oneself in a way that may not reflect reality. From the poker player's bluff to the social masquerade, each term captures a different form of deceptive presentation.
Purple (Settings for a Kiss): BLARNEY STONE, MISTLETOE, NEW YEAR'S EVE, WEDDING
Each represents a traditional or symbolic moment when kisses are exchanged. The Blarney Stone requires a kiss for eloquence, mistletoe demands holiday kisses, while New Year's Eve and weddings provide celebratory kissing opportunities.
The Verdict
Puzzle #988 registers as moderate difficulty with a clever thematic twist. Yellow falls quickly for anyone who recognizes verb synonyms for rapid eating, while green requires thinking about geometric shapes rather than holiday associations.
Blue separates those who think about deception from those stuck on literal meanings. Purple, predictably, is the streak-ender, the kissing theme won't reveal itself without recognizing both holiday traditions and cultural symbols.
The real trap lies in "SCARF" and "MISTLETOE", both could easily mislead solvers into holiday or clothing categories before their true connections emerge. "BLARNEY STONE" serves as the classic Connections curveball, requiring specific cultural knowledge that casual solvers might lack.
Reset and Repeat
Tomorrow's puzzle drops at midnight in your timezone. Until then, reflect on today's performance: did the conical shapes or kissing traditions trip you up?
The beauty lies not in perfection but in training your brain to spot these hidden patterns.
For now, puzzle #988 is solved. See you at midnight for round #989.
