The New York Times daily Connections puzzle continues to challenge players with its word association game. Today’s edition, number 904, proved particularly tricky, requiring familiarity with literature, common phrases, and even homophones to solve. Here’s a breakdown of the clues and answers to help guide you through it.
Puzzle Breakdown and Hints
The Connections puzzle presents players with 16 words divided into four groups of four. The challenge lies in identifying the shared connection within each group. The difficulty varies, with some categories being straightforward while others demand lateral thinking.
The Times now offers a “Connections Bot” that scores player performance, adding a layer of data-driven engagement for dedicated solvers. This system tracks completion rates, perfect scores, and streaks, appealing to those who enjoy quantifying their puzzle-solving skills.
Here were the hints provided:
– Yellow group: Spin around.
– Green group: Not square or triangular.
– Blue group: Novelist Franz.
– Purple group: Think of the alphabet.
Solutions: Category by Category
Yellow Group: Complete Turn
The words circuit, lap, orbit, and revolution all relate to the concept of a complete turn or cycle. This category relies on recognizing the shared action or movement implied by each word.
Green Group: Circular Things
This group features full moon, LP (vinyl record), pizza pie, and pupil. These are all circular in shape or concept, requiring a visual or conceptual connection to identify.
Blue Group: Kafka Works, with “The”
The blue category is a nod to Franz Kafka’s literary contributions, specifically Castle, Judgment, Metamorphosis, and Trial. Solving this requires recognizing the author and his key novels.
Purple Group: Starting with Letter Homophones
This is the most difficult group. The words eye contact, pea soup, sea change, and tea leaves share the fact that they all start with letter homophones (words that sound the same but have different spellings).
Past Difficult Puzzles
Previous Connections puzzles have also tested players’ ability to think outside the box. For example:
– Puzzle #5: Included “things you can set” such as mood, record, table, and volleyball.
– Puzzle #4: Included “one in a dozen” such as egg, juror, month, and rose.
– Puzzle #3: Included “streets on screen” such as Elm, Fear, Jump, and Sesame.
These examples show that the puzzle’s creators often rely on obscure or unexpected connections to increase difficulty.
In conclusion, today’s Connections puzzle demanded a mix of literary knowledge, observational skills, and an understanding of linguistic quirks. The game’s increasing complexity and the addition of performance tracking tools suggest that the Times is committed to challenging and engaging its puzzle-solving audience.
