If you are looking for the Connections Answer for Saturday, July 13, 2024, keep reading – I’ll share some hints, tips and strategies, and finally the solutions for all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meaning of the most difficult words and we’ll learn how it all fits together. Warning, there are spoilers below for NYT Connections #398 from July 13! Read on if you want some clues (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.
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Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints about today’s Connections answers. And further down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and answers. Scroll slowly and pick up just the hints you need!
Hints for today’s Connections puzzle themes
Here are some spoiler-free hints about today’s Connections groupings:
- Yellow Category – Large.
- Green Category – Like a person, but not enough.
- Blue Category – Words to describe the feeling of something.
- Purple Category – These words all have one letter in common that is not actually spoken out loud.
WARNING: Spoilers for today’s Connections puzzle!
We are about to reveal some answers to you. Scroll down slowly if you don’t want to spoil everything. (The full solution is a little further down.)
A warning about delicate parts
There is no fairy tale category with CASTLE, WITCH, MONSTER and GIANT. Two of these words, however, belong to another category.
AVATAR and TITANIC are both films directed by James Cameron, but they are not related today. AVATAR more generally refers to the idea of an external representation or digital version of a person (hence the title of the film).
LOOKING and LISTENING do not go together.
What are the categories in Today’s Connections?
- Yellow: HUGE
- Green: INCARNATION
- Blue: MEET AS
- Violet: SILENT “T”
ATTENTION: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW
Ready to find out the answers to today’s Connections riddle? I’ll reveal them below.
What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?
The yellow group is considered the simplest. The theme of today’s yellow group is HUGE and the words are: GIANT, MAMMOTH, MONSTER, TITANIC.
What are the green words in today’s Connections?
The green group is supposed to be the second easiest. The theme of today’s green category is INCARNATION and the words are: AVATAR, CHARACTER, FIGURE, PERSONA.
What are the blue words in today’s Connections?
The blue group is the second most difficult. The theme for today’s blue category is COME AS and the words are: APPEAR, LOOK, SEEM, SOUND.
What are the purple words in today’s Connections?
The purple group is considered the most difficult. The theme for today’s purple category is SILENT “T” and the words are: CASTLE, HUSTLE, LISTEN, WITCH.
How I Solved Today’s Connections
I’m tempted to pair AVATAR and TITANIC together because they’re both films directed by James Cameron, but I don’t see any other film titles by him on the board.
Oh, AVATAR probably goes with CHARACTER, PERSONA and FIGURE – all of these words describe facsimiles or entities. ? Yes, INCARNATION is a much better word for it, thanks NYT.
GIANT, MONSTER, WITCH, and CASTLE are all fairy tale words, but they seem to be a bit of a random assortment of words: one is a place, three are evil characters. Let’s try MONSTER instead with TITANIC, GIANT, and MAMMOTH, because all of them are words that can be used to describe something big. ?
Of the remaining words, it seems that SON, SEM, LOOK and APPEAR could go together, as these are all words that one could use to describe the impression that something left on us.
That leaves CASTLE, HUSTLE, WITCH and LISTEN. Hmm. Do all of these words have a silent T?? Yeah.
How to play Connections
I have a full tank guide to playing Connectionsbut here is a reminder of the rules:
First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Game application (formerly the Crossword app). You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with a word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often, they’re all the same type (for example: RAIN, ICE, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there’s a play on words involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists(to-do list, guest list, etc.).
Select four items and press the Submit button. If you guess correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess is incorrect, you’ll have the opportunity to try again.
You win when you correctly identify all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.
How to gain connections
The most important thing to know about winning Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see groups overlap. For example, one puzzle appeared to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELETTE, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters with CLOSE, MUNCH and WHISTLER, and EGG was part of a group of things that come in dozens (along with JUROR, ROSE and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only these four things.
If you get stuck, another strategy is to look at words that seem to have No connection with others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother” you may be right. When I solved this problem, I ended up googling if 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, of course, to read some helpful tips. That’s why we share these tips every day. Come back tomorrow for the next puzzle!