Today's New York Times Crossword Clues and Solutions for September 11, 2024's Edition
If you're searching for the responses to the Connections puzzle on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, look no further. I'll be sharing clues, tips, and strategies, along with the solutions for all four categories. Along the journey, we'll decipher the more challenging words and discover how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers ahead for September 11, NYT Connections #458! Proceed with caution if you want a few hints (and then the solution) to today's Connections game.
To easily access our Connections hints daily, consider bookmarking this page. You can also find our past hints here, in case you missed a previous puzzle.
Below, I've provided some indirect hints for today's Connections answers. Further down the page, you'll find the themes and responses. Take your time and only take the suggestions 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 - A treasure Scrooge McDuck frequently dives into.
- Green category - Something you might read on the bottom of a Snapple cap, or in a fortune cookie.
- Blue category - Famous quote from a specific film.
- Purple category - Shares a similar color.
CAUTION: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!
We're about to reveal some of the answers. Proceed with caution if you don't want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)
A warning about the challenging parts
FORTUNE doesn't refer to a FORTUNE cookie.
GRIMACE is a character from the McDonald's marketing universe—his most distinct feature is his striking color.
You'll find the blue category easier if you're familiar with a popular blockbuster film featuring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum.
MINT and LAVENDER do not go well together.
PEARL, AMBER, and AMETHYST do not go together.
Which categories make up today’s Connections?
- Yellow: Large Amount of Wealth
- Green: Bit of Wisdom
- Blue: Famous Quote from a Film
- Purple: Similar Color
DOUBLE CAUTION: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW
Are you ready to discover the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? Here they are:
What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?
The yellow grouping is considered the most straightforward. Today's yellow group theme is LARGE AMOUNT OF WEALTH, and the words are: BAG, GOOSE EGGS, MINT, TREASURE.
What are the green words in today’s Connections?
The green grouping is intended to be the second-easiest. Today's green category theme is BIT OF WISDOM, and the words are: KERNEL, NUGGET, PEARL, WISDOM.
What are the blue words in today’s Connections?
The blue grouping is the second-hardest. Today's blue category theme is FAMOUS QUOTE FROM A FILM, and the words are: AMBER, DINOSAUR, WILL, LOVE.
What are the purple words in today’s Connections?
The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. Today's purple category theme is SIMILAR COLOR, and the words are: EGGPLANT, GRIMACE, LAVENDER, PURPLE.
How I solved today’s Connections
Firstly, I've identified a group of things that share a similar color: EGGPLANT, LAVENDER, AMETHYST, and GRIMACE, the name of the McDonald's mascot clothing.
It seems there might also be a Jurassic Park category, featuring DINOSAUR, PALEONTOLOGIST, AMBER, and MOSQUITO. (In the movie, DINOSAUR DNA is discovered inside a MOSQUITO preserved in AMBER.)
TIBIT, PEARL, NUGGET, and KERNEL probably all mean "a tiny bit."
That leaves BAG, GOOSE EGGS, MINT, and TREASURE. Hmm. I have no idea what the connection there is—TREASURE and MINT make me think of money, but BAG and GOOSE EGGS seem to be straightforward synonyms for collections of things. Let's see. I began to suspect a theme of large amounts of wealth. Interesting. I was half right, as I thought BUNDLE was intended, but I misspoke when I said MINT—Instead, it's TREASURE.
How to play Connections
I've written a complete guide to playing Connections, but here's a quick summary of the rules:
Start by locating the Connections game, either on the New York Times' official website or through their Games application (previously known as the Crossword app). You'll encounter a game board displaying 16 tiles, each containing a single word or phrase. Your task is to pick out a squad of four tiles that share a common trait. Sometimes this commonality is straightforward, such as RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW being various forms of precipitation. At other times, there's a play on words involved, like BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH, all representing different sorts of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so forth.
Select four items and click the 'Submit' button. If your guess is correct, the category and color will be revealed. The order of difficulty is as follows: yellow is the easiest, followed by green, then blue, and finally purple. If your guess is incorrect, you'll have another chance to try your luck.
You win by correctly identifying all four groups. However, if you make four mistakes before completing the game, the game ends, and the solutions are revealed.
How to triumph in Connections
Understanding that the groupings are intentionally complex is crucial to emerge victorious in Connections. You should expect to encounter interlacing groups. For example, a puzzle appeared to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be associated with a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER. EGG, on the other hand, was categorized under things that come in dozens: along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH. Therefore, avoid hitting 'submit' until you're 100% certain that your group of four consists only of those four items.
If you're struggling, an alternative strategy is to focus on words that seemingly have no connection to the others. If all you can think of after seeing WHISTLER is the painting famously known as "Whistler's Mother," it could be a lead. In that case, I ended up searching online to see if Close was the name of a painter, as it didn't seem to fit any apparent themes either.
Another effective tactic when stuck is to absorb a few helpful hints. That's why we share these tips daily. Come back tomorrow for the next challenge!
After finding the puzzle solutions on the New York Times website, you might want to save the page for easy access in the future. Additionally, if you're looking for hints for the 'entertainment' category in their Connections game, remember that it might involve a well-known film featuring actors like Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum.
