Maintaining a Connections winning streak is tough, which is why Newsweek is here to lend a helping hand.
The puzzle was launched by The New York Times in June 2023 and has gone on to become the newspaper’s second-most-played game behind Wordle, another popular word-based brainteaser.
Wyna Liu, a puzzle editor at the NYT who comes up with the Connections games, said there are certain topics that are off-limits when it comes to puzzle making.
“I believe puzzles should be as inclusive as possible, so I’ll try my best to avoid anything that is violent, hurtful, or exclusionary, as well as names of people I feel shouldn’t be given ‘airtime,'” Liu told the Times in 2020. “I think it’s important to consider your audience: ‘Who are we making the puzzle for?’ I’m not too squeamish, so I don’t mind fill that is body- or sex-related.”
In a separate interview with Newsweek last year, Liu said Connections “has evolved” over time, noting that she occasionally clusters words together that may trick users.
“I usually don’t know where a board is going to go,” she said, adding that it takes “a long time to fudge things and try different angles.”
How to Play ‘Connections’
Connections tasks players to categorize 16 words into four groups based on association. These categories are labeled with a color for difficulty. While yellow and green are considered easier, blue and purple are thought to be trickier.
For example, in Tuesday’s game, the yellow category was “Adjectives for nice skin,” and the words associated with it were: “dewy,” “fresh,” “glowing” and “smooth.”
As for the purple category, it was titled “___ Chain,” and was linked with the terms “daisy,” “food,” “mountain” and “supply.”
There is no time limit to the brainteaser, but be warned: players get only four tries before the answers will be revealed.
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‘Connections’ #633 Hints and Clues for Wednesday, March 5
Below are Newsweek‘s clues to help you with Wednesday’s game:
Yellow: Outside the boundary
Green: What you may find yourself doing to your fingernails
Blue: Things that may make someone dewy-eyed
Purple: Sports with a ball
‘Connections’ #633 Answers for Wednesday, March 5
Yellow Category: PERIPHERY
Yellow Words: Border, Edge, Fringe, Skirt
Green Category: THINGS PEOPLE DO TO FINGERNAILS
Green Words: Bite, Clip, File, Paint
Blue Category: WHAT MIGHT BRING TEARS TO YOUR EYES
Blue Words: Allergy, Melodrama, Onion, Relief
Purple Category: ___ BALL RECCREATIONAL SPORTS
Purple Words: Dodge, Kick, Pickle, Soft
Outstanding work if you conquered today’s Connections, but don’t be hard on yourself if you didn’t. You’ll get another chance on Thursday when a new game will be available for you to try.
Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone, so be sure to check back with Newsweek daily for more hints, clues and answers.
While you wait, how about giving one of these other popular word-based games a try?