Today's NYT Connections Hint and Answer (December 20, #558)

What is a Connection?

Connections is a game published by The New York Times. The goal is simple: classify 16 words into four groups. Each group's words are connected by some common idea or theme. The common element can be anything. Games that work based on the number of letters in words, categories where you need to find additional characters at the end of a word, and many other ways are possible. Sometimes references related to economics are included, and sometimes those related to fairy tales. The relationships between words cannot be predicted.

Once you understand connections confidently, select four words and press the 'Submit' button. You have a total of four attempts, so don't be too adventurous.

Hints for Today's Connections Group

Here are some hints to start the 558th Connections game:

• Yellow: Used when combining multiple things.
• Green: Methods of classifying what you say
• Blue: Not a sister, but...
• Purple: The sound of someone complaining.

If you still need help, the actual group names are as follows:

• Yellow: Harmonious items
• Green: Types of sentences
• Blue: Types of yarn
• Purple: Homophones

Today's NYT Connections Answers

Spices (yellow):

Concert, Compound, Mixing, Solution

Types of sentences (green):

"Order, Exclamation, Question, Sentence"

"Blue Bros types:"

Cryptography, Finance, Minor, Technology

Purple homophones:

Growth, Slice, Whale, Wine

How to Predict a Connections Group

There is no quick and certain approach like Wordle for solving Connections. This is because Connections are not based on an algorithm. However, keeping a few points in mind can help:

1. Look for similar parts of speech. Some words are verbs, others are nouns? Some are adjectives? Try combining these categories in your head and see if any other patterns become clear.
2. The words are synonyms? Sometimes the category is the synonym or nearly synonymous phrase of a sentence. However, don't rely too much on this. Sometimes connections include intentionally similar words to mislead you.
3. Try saying the word out loud. Sometimes, saying a word can help. The puzzle you see may contain words like 'go', 'rate', 'quickly', 'clip', 'pace', 'speed', 'move', 'commute', and 'early'. These are clearly related to movement. However, when you say them, only four of them (go, move, early, quickly) are actually things you should say to prompt someone to start moving (go, move, early, quickly).
4. The red harmony. Connections usually include words that can be reasonably grouped even if they're wrong. For example, take the words 'bud', 'collar', and 'light'. These three words might seem like they belong in a category related to beer, but they don't.
5. Look for different words. If a word on the board has multiple meanings or is only used in a specific context, try using that word as the basis of your category.
6. Shuffle the board. Sometimes swapping the positions of words can give you a new perspective.

"If you couldn't solve this, don't worry—there will be another chance tomorrow! And if these words are related to interesting topics, they can take you one step further in the competition."