If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Friday, August 9, 2024, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for August 9, NYT Connections #425! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.
If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.
Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!
Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle
Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:
- Yellow category – Where are they?
- Green category – Your biggest fan.
- Blue category – Jack Black’s character Dewey Finn (or should I say Ned Schneebly?) is well versed on the subject.
- Purple category – A fill-in-the-blank, with a word referring to surprise, or electricity.
BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!
We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)
A heads up about the tricky parts
MIA is an acronym.
EXPONENT doesn’t refer to the superscript number in a math equation—today, it means “a person who believes in and promotes the truth or benefits of an idea or theory.”
CHEERLEADER and JOCK might be character archetypes in HORROR flicks, but they don’t go together today.
What are the categories in today’s Connections?
- Yellow: NOT PRESENT
- Green: SUPPORTER
- Blue: ROCK GENRES
- Purple: SHOCK ___
DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW
Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.
What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?
The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is NOT PRESENT and the words are: ABSENT, ELSEWHERE, GONE, MIA.
What are the green words in today’s Connections?
The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is SUPPORTER and the words are: ADVOCATE, CHAMPION, CHEERLEADER, EXPONENT.
What are the blue words in today’s Connections?
The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is ROCK GENRES and the words are: GLAM, GOTH, METAL, PUNK.
What are the purple words in today’s Connections?
The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is SHOCK ___ and the words are: HORROR, JOCK, VALUE, WAVE.
How I solved today’s Connections
Aw, that cluster of the words HORROR, MIA, and GOTH is cute, likely a reference to the scream queen from Pearl, X, and MaXXXine.
Having said that, it looks like CHEERLEADER probably fits better with CHAMPION, ADVOCATE, and JOCK. “One away.” Yeah, JOCK is probably the odd one out. Maybe VALUE? The grammar agreement between CHEERLEADER and VALUE doesn’t seem quite right though, so I’ll keep looking.
I think PUNK, GOTH, GLAM, and METAL fit as forms of rock music. ?
Ah, MIA is actually an acronym meaning “missing in action,” and that fits with ELSEWHERE, GONE, and ABSENT. ?
I’m tempted to make EXPONENT part of some math category with VALUE, but after a quick Google, I learn that EXPONENT can also mean “a person who believes in and promotes the truth or benefits of an idea or theory.” That would make it fit with CHAMPION, ADVOCATE, and CHEERLEADER. ?
That leaves WAVE, JOCK, HORROR, and VALUE. Oh, do all those words go with “shock?” ShockWAVE, shock JOCK, shock HORROR, and shock VALUE? ?
How to play Connections
I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:
First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Games app (formerly the Crossword app). You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).
Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.
You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.
How to win Connections
The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.
If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.
Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!
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