Today's New York Times Crossword Puzzle Clues and Solutions for September 10, 2024 (Paraphrased)
If you're in search of the answers for the Connections puzzle on September 10, 2024, look no further! I'll be providing hints, explanations, and the final solutions for all four categories. Be warned, there's going to be some spoilers ahead for September 10's NYT Connections #457. If you're eager to uncover clues and the answer to today's Connections game, feel free to keep reading.
For those who frequently play Connections, you may wish to save this page to your bookmarks. Our hints are also available for past puzzles, enabling you to catch up on any puzzles you might have missed.
Now, let me share with you some oblique hints to the solution of today's Connections:
Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle
- Yellow category: Words related to diversity of things
- Green category: Relay race related words
- Blue category: Ways to evaluate media, such as movies or homework
- Purple category: Words associated with a head of state
Spoiler warning!
We're about to reveal the answers. Proceed with caution if you don't want the solution spoiled. The answers following will provide hints (and the answers) for today's Connections game.
Additional tips
- Stars and Stripes do not belong together
- Hands and thumbs do not belong together
- NHL stands for National Hockey League, and you should think of the teams that make up the league
- Sort is a noun
Categories of the Connections puzzle
- Yellow: VARIETIES
- Green: TRANSFER
- Blue: RATINGS SYSTEMS
- Purple: THINGS WITH KINGS
Warning: Final answers are coming up
Ready for the answers to today's Connections puzzle? Below, I'll reveal all of them:
The yellow words in today’s Connections puzzle
The simplest grouping consists of the following words: KINDS, SORTS, STRIPES, TYPES.
The green words in today’s Connections puzzle
The second-easiest grouping is TRANSFER with the following words: DELIVER, GIVE, HAND, PASS.
The blue words in today’s Connections puzzle
The second hardest grouping is RATINGS SYSTEMS, with the following words: A-F, PERCENTAGE, STARS, THUMBS.
The purple words in today’s Connections puzzle
The most challenging grouping is THINGS WITH KINGS, consisting of the following words: CHECKERS, DECK OF CARDS, MONARCHY, NHL.
How I solved today’s Connections
There were several tricky words and themes in today's puzzle. I identified SORTS and TYPES as possible themes, but I wasn't sure if there were any other commonalities between the categories. DECK OF CARDS and CHECKERS could potentially go together, as both are used for playing games. NHL was puzzling to me, as there were no other sports-related acronyms, and the word wasn't particularly unusual. I hypothesized that it might be a themed category with a word in common like "sticks" or "games".
Due to how these words fit together, PASS, HAND, GIVE, and DELIVER seemed like they would be straightforward synonyms and were the best to solve first. A-F looked like a range of letters, and I wondered if this would be a theme related to parts of a whole. PERCENTAGE, STARS, and THUMBS seemed to also fit this pattern, so I hypothesized that STARS and STRIPES might be an additional theme.
After a brief research, I realized that DECK OF CARDS, MONARCHY, and CHECKERS all had the common theme of "kings". NHL also had a team named the Kings, which would be a convenient addition to this categorization.
This left me with PERCENTAGE, STARS, THUMS, and A-F. I hypothesized that PERCENTAGE and THUMBS were related to parts of a whole, like the former being a measure of completion and the latter being a part of the hand. The final piece of the puzzle was STARS, which could fit into the "stars and stripes" category.
My solution:
- Yellow: VARIETIES
- Green: TRANSFER
- Blue: RATINGS SYSTEMS
- Purple: THINGS WITH KINGS
How to play Connections
I have a detailed guide on playing Connections, but in short, here are the rules:
- Have a pencil and a notebook to inscribe your responses and brainstorming
- Solve the categories in order from yellow to purple (easiest to hardest)
- Read each category thoroughly and analyze the words to determine any hidden meanings or commonalities.
- Keep the clues in mind, and look for connections between the categories.
- Once you think you have the solution, record it, and confirm your answer with the final answer below.
- Revel in your success, knowing that you've conquered another Connections puzzle.
Locate the Connections game, it can be found on the New York Times' website or in their Games app (previously known as the Crossword app). You'll notice a game board containing 16 tiles, each showcasing a word or phrase. Your mission is to choose a set of four tiles sharing a common aspect. Frequently, they all belong to the same category (such as RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW being various types of precipitation), but at times, there's a play on words involved (like BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH, which are all sorts of lists - bucket list, guest list, and so forth).
Select these items and click on the Submit button. If you've hit the mark, the category and color will become apparent. (Yellow is the easiest, followed by green, then blue, and eventually purple.) In case your guess fails, you'll be given another chance.
Victory is yours once you've correctly identified all four sets. However, if you commit four errors before completing the game, it terminates, and you're shown the answers.
Triumphing at Connections
It's crucial to realize that the groupings are intentionally crafted to be challenging. Anticipate overlapping groups. For instance, a puzzle appeared to consist of six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. Yet, BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG became integral to a set of things arriving by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So, be certain that your group of four exclusively contains those four elements, before hitting the "submit" button.
If you're in a fix, another tactic is to examine the words with no apparent connection to the others. If the sole thought that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting famously titled "Whistler's Mother," you might be on to something. When I solved that troublemaker, I eventually explored whether there were any painters named Close, because Close didn't fit with any apparent themes, neither.
Yet another technique to succeed when stuck is, of course, to take advantage of a few helpful hints – as this is why we share these tips daily. Return tomorrow for the next puzzle!
After uncovering the answers to September 10's Connections puzzle, you might want to explore the entertainment section of the New York Times to find more brain-teasing games like this. Discussing your connections answers with your friends or family could turn into an enjoyable shared activity.
If you're still stumped on some past Connections puzzles and need additional help, consider checking the NYT's archives for their connection solution archives to access hints and final answers for past puzzles.
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