Is this an easier Connections riddle? No way! It's another difficult NYT riddle, so read on for my clues.
What should you do once you're done? Play more word games, of course. I also have articles with daily Wordle hints and answers, Strands hints and answers, and Quordle hints and answers if you need help with those topics as well.
SPOILER WARNING: Below you'll find information about today's NYT Connections, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Connections Today (Set #409): Words of the Day
Today’s NYT Connections words are…
- CHILD
- CALF
- AIRTIGHT
- EQUIPMENT
- TENDER
- SHOULDER
- MUSCLE
- RIB
- FLATTER
- ANNOY
- PUSH
- PUPPY
- MOTHER
- BARGE
- Razz
- TO THE
Today's NYT Connections (Set #409): Clue #1: Group Clues
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- Yellow: You're laughing
- Green: Finger licking good
- Blue: Awww, how cute!
- Purple: Get out of my way!
Need more clues?
We're now in spoiler territory, but read on if you want to know what the four themed answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…
Today's NYT Connections (Game #409): Clue #2: Group Responses
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: JOKE WITH
- GREEN: POULTRY CUTS
- BLUE: BABY ANIMALS
- PURPLE: THROUGH THE CROWD
Well, the answers are below, so DON'T CONTINUE FOLLOWING THE PAGE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
Today's NYT Connections (Set #409): The Answers
The answers to today's Connections game, number 409, are…
- YELLOW: JOKE WITH KID, RAZZ, RIB, JOKE
- BLUE: BABY ANIMALS CALF, PUPPY, FAWN, SHRIMP
- PURPLE: THROUGH THE CROWD BARGE, PUSH, MUSCLE, SHOULDER
- GREEN: POULTRY CUTS CHEST, TENDER, THIGH, WING
- My rating: Moderate
- My score: 2 mistakes
The NYT's insistence on spewing misinformation about every Connections puzzle can be a little irritating. Today is a good example, because I missed two attempts at guessing what easily could or perhaps should have been answers, but weren't. And in one case, I think the invalid answer was better than the actual solution.
My problems started with the baby animal group, which ended up being the blue one. I played with CUB, CALF, KID, and FAWN (because obviously they're all baby animals), but that was wrong. Then I looked elsewhere and realized that KID could also go with TEASE and RIB, oh, and RAZZ fit, too, so I tried that and solved the yellow “tease with” group. Then I looked at the animals again, switched to KIT, and solved that one. Good.
But that left eight answers. I had already looked at SHOULDER, WING, THIGH and BREAST and thought they must be chicken cuts, but I hadn’t guessed yet because the presence of VEAL, MUSCLE and RIB made me think there might be an answer relating to another meat or body part. But I tried it now and, to my surprise, I was wrong. What’s wrong? So I looked elsewhere and got the “breaking through the crowd” group, adding SHOULDER to BARGE, JOSTLE and MUSCLE, which meant the last group was indeed “chicken cuts”, but with TENDER in there instead. We don’t even call them tenders in the UK, and even in the US it should surely be TENDERLOIN. I’m no expert, but this was a little frustrating all the same, even if it might technically have been allowed.
How did your day go? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Connections Answers (Tuesday, July 23, Game #408)
- YELLOW: IMPOSTOR CHARLATAN, FRAUD, CHARLATAN, FANATIC
- GREEN: PRONUNCIATION NOISE, CHEEP, SOUND, WORD
- BLUE: THE ONE WHO LIKES TO INTRODUCE HIMSELF HAM, HOT DOG, PEACOCK, SHOW BOAT
- PURPLE: LOONEY TUNES CHARACTERS MINUS ONE LETTER BUG, PIG, SPEED, TWEET
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of the increasingly popular word games created by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that have something in common, and each group has a different level of difficulty: green is easy, yellow is a little harder, blue is usually quite difficult, and purple is usually very difficult.
The plus side is that you don't technically need to solve the last one, as you'll be able to answer it by process of elimination. Plus, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a bit of wiggle room.
However, it is a bit more complex than something like Wordle and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trick you with tricks. For example, beware of homophones and other wordplay that could disguise the answers.
It can be played for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile devices.
