The Wednesday edition of NYT Connections arrives with puzzle #990, serving up a grid that rewards both educational knowledge and clever wordplay. Today's challenge particularly favors those who can spot surname patterns and think beyond surface-level definitions.
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 #990:
NAPKIN | COOK | BABY | PRINCIPAL
DEAN | NURSE | KEY | MOTHER
BASIC | ALKALINE | HARDEN | FOSTER
DIATRIBE | PRIMARY | BROWN | DECLAN
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about nurturing roles and caregiving positions.
Green Category Clue: Consider foundational or essential concepts in education.
Blue Category Hint: Look for surnames that double as common English words.
Purple Category Teaser: Focus on words that end with sounds suggesting family relationships.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (CARE FOR): BABY, FOSTER, MOTHER, NURSE
These four words all relate to nurturing, caring for, or looking after someone or something.
"Baby" and "mother" represent the most direct family caregiving relationship, while "foster" and "nurse" describe professional or temporary care roles.
Green (ELEMENTARY): BASIC, KEY, PRIMARY, PRINCIPAL
This category collects words that mean fundamental, essential, or first in importance.
"Basic" and "primary" are straightforward synonyms for elementary, while "key" suggests something crucial, and "principal" refers to both a school leader and something of primary importance.
Blue (JAMESES): BROWN, COOK, DEAN, HARDEN
All four are surnames of famous people named James.
James Brown, James Cook, James Dean, and James Harden each made their mark in different fields, music, exploration, acting, and basketball respectively.
Purple (Ending in Family Words): ALKALINE, DECLAN, DIATRIBE, NAPKIN
The trick here is phonetic endings that sound like family terms.
"Alkaline" ends with "line" (sounds like "lyin'"), "Declan" ends with "clan," "diatribe" ends with "tribe," and "napkin" ends with "kin", all suggesting family or group relationships.
The Verdict
Puzzle #990 registers as moderate difficulty with a clever linguistic twist.
Yellow falls quickly for anyone who recognizes caregiving roles, while green requires thinking about educational fundamentals.
Blue separates the pop culture enthusiasts from casual observers, knowing these Jameses requires specific knowledge across multiple domains.
Purple, predictably, is the streak-ender; that phonetic family ending trick won't reveal itself without serious lateral thinking.
The real trap lies in words like "principal" and "key" that could easily fit multiple categories.
"Principal" could connect with "dean" in an educational context, while "key" might pair with "basic" as fundamental concepts, creating deliberate misdirection.
Reset and Repeat
Tomorrow's puzzle drops at midnight in your timezone.
Until then, reflect on today's performance: did you spot the Jameses connection immediately, or did the family word endings catch you off guard?
The beauty lies not in perfection but in training your brain to spot these hidden patterns.
For now, puzzle #990 is solved.
See you at midnight for round #991.
