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I’m not so good in the genre of Rapper or hip hop singers, but I don’t let that deter me when my mind is in tune with a good word puzzle. Yes, I’m hooked on the NYT word game Connections.
Chances are you played or, at least heard of the New York Times “cult”puzzles. Over the past few years, Wordle became a staple as part of millions of peoples daily routine, and I highly recommend the addictive Connections as a new challenge for word puzzle aficionados and word mavens.
Brain training games and puzzles has emerged as a way to optimize your brain’s efficiency and capacity at any age—the more you challenge your brain, the less likely you are to lose cognitive abilities over time, such as memory and learning skills
This doesn’t mean you’re necessarily smarter overall, but it does suggest you may be better at processing certain types of information, and have fun doing it, while building your vocabulary—and learning to think “outside the box.”
I appreciate the magic of words—how they sound, their nuanced meanings, their emotional associations, and the way a word evokes a personal response. Words are important. They impact us, change our moods and emotions—and inspire action. They allow us to connect and to comment.
Connections is also different from Wordles or Crossword because it’s a word grouping game about finding common threads between words. And there are so many choices it’s Impossible to just guess. But you can access hints.
Think you can find the right word groupings? Learn how to think “outside the box”—and explore the possibilities.of sequencing.
The next time you go for a run, remember your mind needs a good run too.
I usually get Connections in a few minutes, but occasionally I am completely stumped. On these days, I worry I am losing my powers of cognition.
I quit Wordle because it is mostly a guessing game (you do need to know a lot of five letter words). My scores fit almost perfectly to a normal distribution and I could marginally improve it with a little strategy in the few cases where strategy would apply. Connections is different. Years ago my dad had a Mensa puzzles book on the toilet tank so I read bits of it. Strategies in it are useful for Connections.
Michael, it’s only a game and sometimes we just need to be a little playful with it. The first grouping has an advantage in that it’s usually easier to find commonality among the words. I usually try solving at different times during day or taking a break . It relieves the intensity.
Love Connections (and Spelling Bee). Play them every day, along with the mini-crossword. Fired up Wordle again after a long hiatus – the pressure of not breaking my streak began weighing on me. 🥴
Speaking of streaks, I had 11 in a row with Connections until today. Failed. I’m going to have to cry ‘foul’ on this one, though. It was a totally unfair puzzle today!
Why was today’s unfair? I tried it after reading your post here and got it in less thsn 2 minutes no errors. But I admit I was completely stumped by a puzzle earlier this week in the middle of your winning streak. The one I was stumped by was the unfair one; not today’s!
Impressive streak. Occasionally they slip one in that seems like it flew over the cuckoo’s nest. All in all, it’s fun. Keep on connecting tman.
I’m in three wordle group and do connections on my own, but I’m not very good at it. I enjoy it though and will keep at it.
That’s the spirit. Thanks, Brian
I don’t know what it says about my thinking, but most of the time, I have no clue for the groupings on Connections. Sometimes I find one or two groupings successfully. So, I don’t play often.
Wordle however is another story. My oldest son and I do it every day and have a kind of silent competition. He uses a different start word than I, and the one I use hasn’t been mentioned here. I record the words I use in trying to get the solution for the puzzle each day. I think the average US score is 3.92 guesses so if you are doing better than that congrats.
As long as we are talking about fun mental games, those of you with an Apple phone/Ipad, can get($) Apple news. For a real mental workout which can make you pull out hair, try the Quartiles puzzle. This is kind of like having to break a code. You get 5 words divided into 20 total pieces and you have to put the pieces back together to make the right words. You get credit for any word of any length in trying to become an Expert…..The nasty creators break the words up non-phonetically without regard to syllables.
Looks like fun and so educational for your son. Alas, I don’t have Apple News subscription. Have you tried 7 little words? No subscription required. Nice bonding time for you and your son.
thanks for your post.
My thinking style is analytical and visual. After I’d been avoiding Connections due to the more inductive reasoning needed, this post (thanks!) got me to try it. I found a method that works for me: I take a screenshot of the board, then when I think I have a group I use the online annotations tool to underline them in one color, the next group in another color, and so on. The colors help me see the remaining possibilities and revise as needed, then submit the groups. So far, so good.
With Wordle, a couple years ago I found online the frequency of letters used in English words. From the top 15 in decreasing frequency I composed three 5-letter words. I always use the same first word. Then I either use the second word if there’s not much to go on from the first result or I choose a second word guided by the result, and so on. So far, so good: (mean) 3.81 guesses, no fails. Happy to share the three words if anyone wishes.
My Fire tablet has a Wordle app that offers unlimited games per day. I used it for a while to try a suggestion I found online of four words that use the top 20 letters, but even though it usually captured all five letters in the word, I didn’t like having only two remaining guesses to solve the anagram.
ADIEU gets 4 of the 5 vowels. Follow by STORY if ADIEU is hitless.
According to the Wordlebot ADIEU is the most popular start word, at 7%, but the bot only gives it a skill score of 80, in contrast to the 99 it gives its own preferred CRANE.
Now that’s thinking “out of the box,”John.
you’re way ahead of us, good job.
Very inventive, IPF.
Got today’s Connection easily. If you get through third try, it’s home free.
I am not a visual thinker (I don’t see mental images) and have to rely on reasoning and general knowledge for Connections. This means I sometimes get a right answer for the wrong reasons, as I did today. However, I do something similar to you for Wordle. I always use the same first word. I have two preferred words for the second, with a slight change to one depending on my luck with vowels. I am also happy to share. The Wordlebot has a different preferred first word, but likes one of my second words.
Would be interested to know yours, although I don’t plan to change.
In Wordle, the three words I found using the top 15 in decreasing order of frequency are stare, pound, climb. What are yours?
The four words using the top 20 are light, candy, power, bumfs.
In Connections, by visual I meant being able to see word groupings, not images.
I start with LATER. If neither vowel is right I usually follow with SOUND, otherwise either DINOS or SNIDE, depending on whether both vowels are right. If necessary my third is likely to be CHUMP, CHIMP or CHAMP, but not automatically, and I may get it in three.
I was starting with GREAT, but I like LATER. Then follow up with NOISY. 🙂
I was basing it on letter frequency, although of course the frequency may be different if you’re only looking at five letter words. And common ones at that. I was thinking SUTRA the other day, but figured (correctly) it wasn’t in the Wordle word set.
I play Wordle everyday and am generally quite good at it. I play Connections sometimes. It annoys me at points—in some instances, you need insider cultural knowledge to get the connections. It reminds me a bit of how the TV show Wheel of Fortune changed over time, now having “phrases” that actually no one says.
I agree, though, that these are great ways to keep your mind sharper. My husband, whose mother died of Alzheimer’s last year, does a series of them everyday as part of his morning routine.
so many keen minds at Humble Dollar. Don’t let connections frustrate you, Dana. Enjoy. I once got wordle. On first try…now how did that happen? No skill involved. Sheer luck.
OK – yesterday’s first Humble Dollar Finance Connections was far too easy. Here is Finance Connections Two which is expanded to five categories plus being a bit tougher. PLEASE DO NOT POST your answers so others can continue to play! Tomorrow I will post the “hints” of the 5 categories for those needing additional help, and then on Friday, I will post the solution so you can check your answers. Here goes:
Paula .. Bill .. Vlad .. Jason .. Christine
Charles .. Morgan .. Mark .. Suze .. Nick
Larry .. Peter .. Sam .. Walt .. Joe
Jean .. Jane .. Jonathan .. John .. Jeff
Katie .. Steve .. Edward .. Michelle .. Thomas
The Connections:
Wall Street Journal Columnists
Morgan Housel, Walt Mossberg, Jason Zweig, Joe Morgenstern, & our own Jonathan
Tech Company Founders
Billy Gates, Larry Page, Jeff Bezos, Stevie Jobs, & Mark Zuckerberg
Woman Financial Writers
Suze Orman, Jean Chatzky, Jane Bryant Quinn, Christine Benz, & Michelle Singletary
Brokerage Firm Founders
Vlad Tenev, Charles Schwab, John Bogle, Edward Johnson, & Thomas Peterffy
Financial Bloggers
Paula Pant, Peter Adeney, Sam Dogen, Katie Tassin, & Nick Maggiulli
Now accepting posts with your solution to Financial Connections Two if anyone wants to take a shot at it. I’ll post the answers later today if no one posts in the meantime.
For those desiring a hint, the five categories are:
Wall Street Journal Columnists
Tech Company Founders
Woman Financial Writers
Brokerage Firm Founders
Financial Bloggers
I like Connections and the mini-crossword. I think my longest connections streak is 6 or 7 days. My level at solving the puzzle runs at about 61%. But I do enjoy it. I like how the puzzle shows PHEW! when you solve it with no more mistakes left to make. I’ve just started the Spelling Bee the past couple of days.
I enjoy spelling bee but find it more time consuming. connections is a quicker study. , although I’ll sometimes leave it and go back another time until it clicks.
I usually have to take a break from Connections to do Strands before coming back.
My wife is hooked on these word games and their various iterations, Marjorie. She’s happy to hear of Connections.
Ed, I knew you and your daughter were word experts. Now the whole family can participate.
Thanks for commenting.
I’ve tried NERDLE and QWERDLE, but the one that took so much of my day was REDACTLE.
I give you much credit, Rick. Never tried it but think it might require more knowledge and patience than I possess.
Authors note: Merl Reagle was an American crossword constructor for 30 years, who died in 2015. He was syndicated in 50 newspapers across the country, anchored in San Francisco.
His puzzles were devilishly inventive and usually themed or clued, adding additional interest. My all time favorite.
My favorites too. Reagle puzzles still appear weekly in my local newspaper, likely updated or ghost written as the clues and answers seem current. The paper recently reprinted a puzzle from the 1990s. I found it very tricky, containing references to older trivia that I did not know or had forgotten.
Thanks for the update,Jo Bo. I also bought Reagle’s series of puzzle books.
Doing “Knotwords” on a daily basis
Described as an elegant logic puzzle. Sounds intriguing. Thanks, Charles.
Great post, Marjorie. Congratulations to Rick on Wordle in two – it just took me three. But the Wordlebot tells me I’ve beaten it three times and tied five in the last couple of weeks. I do Connections and Spelling Bee to Amazing after breakfast, Wordle, Strands and Spelling Bee to Genius after lunch, and the Crossword when it goes online at 10:00 pm. Sometimes I take Spelling Bee to Queen Bee, almost always with help from the NYT forum. But Connections gives me the most trouble. I am hopeless at sports, music, films and current slang. At least with the crossword there are crosses!
BTW, do you know about Quordle and Squeezy?
Kathy, your stellar record isn’t surprising. They say Brits do it Best!
Im hopeless with the Horror Movie segments on Connections, but like anything else, practice makes perfect and I’m getting better and faster overall at my solving skills.
Quordle is the quantum version of wordle—I’ll have to look into Squeezy. But Connections seems to fulfill my curiosity and level of interest for word games.
I grew up doing British cryptic crosswords, but would probably be hopeless at them these days. I think of Connections more as a logic and general knowledge game.
Thanks Kathy. Two is infrequent.
Thanks Marjorie. I too am a regular NYT puzzler. I Just finished Wordle (in 2!), Connections, Strands, Spelling Bee (Genius), and the Mini Crossword. I’m on a Twain to NYC for a week of watching our 2 older grandsons. My grandsons told me about the sports connections a few weeks ago.
My younger son is getting in to some cypher games online. I used to do the CryptoQuote and the Jumble when I subscribed to the Phila Inquirer.
Rick, You have an amazing mind. Looks like you and Ken Cutler are” leaders of the pack”. Congratulations.
Not surprised that you are a puzzler, Rick. One of my engineer friends told me about Nerdle. I played it several times but failed to get hooked.
My grandfather never left for work before completing puzzles in the local paper. It’s a very fond memory. My parents did various crossword puzzles also.
my mom enjoyed them too.
I also like Squaredle and play it daily to make me think.
Rick, stimulation through exchange of ideas keeps the “little gray cells” useful and flexible.
we all get a full measure of that on Humble Dollar every day.
Thanks for your input.
Marjorie, ironically I had just finished my daily routine of playing Wordle and Connections before I ambled over to HumbleDollar and saw your timely post. I’m an addict of both those games. I love Wordle but agree that Connections requires more creativity and out of the box thinking. I’m proud of my 171 day Connections winning streak record (full disclosure: genius daughter helped out a couple times around days 70-75). I definitely feel satisfaction each time my brain finally kicks in to solve what seemed like an impossible Connections puzzle. Current streak is 41….
Extraordinary Ken! You’re a champ and you’ve got me beat. Great that your daughter can build on your ideas and generate additional and unique associations.
Thanks for commenting.
Today’s Finance Connection for you:
VOO RMD BND EPS
PE EFT FXNAX SPY
AGI SWPPX R/O SCHZ
AGG FXAIX ROE PL
VOO SPY SWPPX FXIAX
BND SCHZ AGG FXNAX
EPS PE ROE PL
RMD EFT AGI R/O
John, how do I download the app to play this?
I guess Connections Johnny has worked himself into a new job to create a daily financial connections game on behalf of our Humble editor.
Did you have to look anything up?
A couple of the Fidelity funds had to confirm. And I’m more used to P+L.
Only on Humble Dollar—you’re too clever, John.
Fun!
Great post! Now I’m hooked!
Thanks, Cheryl. New Connections game appears after midnight each night. Good news for fanatics.
I’ll try it. We stepped out of the Scrabble box some years ago and went to Bananagrams.
It was made for you, Norman— with all your knowledge and interests.
For the sports minded, the NYTimes also now offers a daily connections puzzle with a sports slant. Note that it is not listed on the main NYT puzzle menu page, but is searchable on both the NYT and Google sites.
Thanks for the additional information, John. Wasn’t aware of the Connections sports slant. The market for word nerds keeps expanding.
What a great idea for a post, Marjorie! Oddly, over a lifetime spent using words as tools — first as a journalist, now as a PR consultant doing lots of writing — I’ve never had much interest in playing with them. The sole exception was a temporary devotion to the Times crossword (I would take ’em on planes), but it lasted only a few years.
Thanks to your link, I now have a lifetime 100% record on Connections — 1 for 1. I didn’t feel an addictive rush, but who knows, I may be back.
You’ll be back, Martin. Your creative mind will gravitate to it and you’ll do great in the theatrical, musical and writing categories. It’s not a lengthy puzzle either so not much chance of boredom. Only 4 chances to win.🏅
I had heard of Wordle but not the other games mentioned? Still like Sudoku here, maybe I am a numbers person instead of a word one? LOL! Chris
You’re good at word too, Chris. Give it a go! During A recent hospital stay the nurses in the recovery room were playing connections. In my hazy state I was trying to give them hints—-that’s how bad it’s gotten,😆
Marjorie, thanks for including the link. My first attempt was a disaster, but I’ll be back!
Don’t give up, Dan. Now you have another outlet for your occasional insomnia…nighttime forays into Connections. LOL
Chrissy nailed todays Connection. I’ll try harder tomorrow.
I’m hooked on Connections too, Marjorie, plus the Spelling Bee and Mini Crossword. Love the once or twice a year when Connections uses symbols. Am also hooked on Globle. After playing for a couple of years, my geographic smarts are definitely much improved. Now if I have trouble falling asleep, I count countries and not sheep. Works like a charm.
The symbols do give the game an additional different twist occasionally. Interesting.
Thanks for commenting Jo Bo.
Thanks Marjorie fur this excellent posting.
You’re welcome, T.V. Your comments are all the more pointed, coming from a writer of your stature.