NYT Connections today — hints and answers for Saturday, November 9 (game #517)
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Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.
What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Wordle hints and answers, Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (game #517) - today's words
Today's NYT Connections words are…
THRONE
SHRED
GNARLY
POWDER
RADICAL
BATH
LICK
POWER
TWISTED
ROOT
REST
BENT
TRACE
WARPED
EXPONENT
OUNCE
NYT Connections today (game #517) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
Yellow: Crooked
Green: A little bit
Blue: Math terms
Purple: First part of words for a place where you do your business!
Need more clues?
We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #517) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
YELLOW: CONTORTED
GREEN: SMALLEST AMOUNT
BLUE: ALGEBRA TERMS
PURPLE: WORDS BEFORE “ROOM” TO MEAN LAVATORY
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #517) - the answers
The answers to today's Connections, game #517, are…
YELLOW: CONTORTED BENT, GNARLY, TWISTED, WARPED
GREEN: SMALLEST AMOUNT LICK, OUNCE, SHRED, TRACE
BLUE: ALGEBRA TERMS EXPONENT, POWER, RADICAL, ROOT
PURPLE: WORDS BEFORE “ROOM” TO MEAN LAVATORY BATH, POWDER, REST, THRONE
My rating: Moderate
My score: Perfect
You sometimes need a bit of luck in Connections, just as you do in Wordle. Case in point: the way I solved the purple group today. I thought that the connection was 'words that go after foot', with REST, POWDER and BATH all seeming to fit, just about. It wasn't a great connection, but I thought it was worth a shot. For the fourth I decided that THRONE might work – maybe FOOT THRONE was a posh word for a foot rest that I hadn't heard? Stupid, yes, but I gave it a go and was surprised and delighted to see that it was correct. Well, sort of. The connection was actually WORDS BEFORE “ROOM” TO MEAN LAVATORY, amusingly enough. They all count though, eh?
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, 8 November, game #516)
YELLOW: ESCAPADE ANTIC, CAPER, EXPLOIT, STUNT
GREEN: KINDS OF PICKLES DILL, KOSHER, SOUR, SWEET
BLUE: RISQUé ADULT, BLUE, SPICY, SUGGESTIVE
PURPLE: CUT THE ___ CHEESE, CORD, DECK, MUSTARD
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.