Mastering Connections: A Guide To The New York Times Puzzle Game

Connections is a New York Times puzzle game where players have to figure out “connections” between various words and arrange them into groups of four. To help you out, we decided to break down all the categories and answers for the Connections puzzle for August 17.

What is “Connections”?

NYT’s ‘Connections’ is a puzzle game that’s all the hype on social media these days. You will find people solving and sharing their successes and failures on platforms like X (formerly Twitter), and more. The game is managed by Wyna Liu, NYT’s associate puzzle editor. Connections gives players 16 random words that must be divided into categories they don’t know.

The essence of the game lies in its challenge to players. They must think critically and creatively to categorize words, making it a fun and engaging mental exercise. It's no wonder that this game has gained such popularity, as it encourages both individual thinking and social interaction.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Let’s begin with some quick hints for today’s Connections themes. Check them out and see if you can guess any!

• Yellow Category – The backbone of civilization
• Green Category – You do this with your partner
• Blue Category – Items needed in an emergency
• Purple Category – One house, different styles

We wish we could go into more detail here, but these hints are the best we can share. However, if you still can’t find them, read on to get more help with today’s Connections.

Categories for Today’s Connections Puzzle

Need more help with today’s NYT Connections puzzle? Here are today’s categories:

• Yellow – SPOKEN COMMUNICATION
• Green – CANOODLE
• Blue – FIRST AID KIT ITEMS
• Purple – HOUSE STYLES

While you are here, you should also check out the hints and answers for today’s NYT Strands as well as today’s Wordle. We hope you can guess the words under each category now. However, if you still cannot and need more help, keep reading.

Answers for Today’s Connections Game (August 17)

Are you still stuck with the Connections puzzle? In that case, the answers to today’s Connections are:

• SPOKEN COMMUNICATION – Dialect, Language, Speech, Tongue
• CANOODLE – French, Kiss, Make Out, Neck
• FIRST AID KIT ITEMS – Bandage, Dressing, Scissors, Tape
• HOUSE STYLES – Cottage, Craftsman, Prairie, Ranch

The NYT Connections puzzle for August 17 loved to get into some confusing and romantic terms. I began my journey with the Blue category first by quickly getting words that sounded emergent enough. The Yellow category came next and while I did confuse tongue for something else, got the words in the end.

I’ll be honest when I say the Purple category was a stroke of luck. I had no idea what house styles were but luckily scored it in the end. With only four words left, I combined the last four words to get the Green category and the NYT Connections puzzle for August 17.

Yesterday’s Connections Answer

Have you accidentally stumbled on here? Looking for Connections hints and answers for August 16? Get familiar with the puzzle and solve NYT Connections easily!

How was your experience with Connections today? Where did you get stuck if you did? Let us know in the comments below.