Today's NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Tuesday, July 9, 2024
If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Tuesday, July 9, 2024, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for July 9, NYT Connections #394! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.
If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.
Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!
Credit: Connections/NYT
Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle
Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:
- Yellow category - If you have trouble remembering details, you might do these actions to help you recall stuff later.
- Green category - If you’re not well-coiffed, someone may describe your appearance using one of these words.
- Blue category - Altered titles of popular entertainment from the ‘80s and beyond.
- Purple category - A fill-in-the-blank, with a word referring to a manicured bush.
BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!
We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)
A heads up about the tricky parts
You’ll definitely benefit from having some pop culture knowledge today—knowledge of television comedies, specifically.
MOP, SCRUB, and WEED are all house-related tasks, but none of these words are verbs today.
TRIMMER refers to a tool you might use in a garden or yard.
LOG is a verb.
What are the categories in today’s Connections?
- Yellow: CHRONICLE
- Green: MESS OF HAIR
- Blue: TV SHOWS MINUS “S”
- Purple: WORDS AFTER “HEDGE”
DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW
Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.
What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?
The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is CHRONICLE and the words are: JOURNAL, LOG, RECORD, REGISTER.
What are the green words in today’s Connections?
The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is MESS OF HAIR and the words are: MANE, MOP, SHOCK, TANGLE.
What are the blue words in today’s Connections?
The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is TV SHOWS MINUS “S” and the words are: CHEER, FRIEND, SCRUB, WEED.
What are the purple words in today’s Connections?
The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is WORDS AFTER “HEDGE” and the words are: FUND, HOG, MAZE, TRIMMER.
How I solved today’s Connections
MAZE, TANGLE, and WEED stick out as words referring to a twisted-up bunch of something, but I’m not sure what the fourth would be—maybe SCRUB? I’ll keep looking.
Next, I see that MANE and MOP could both refer to long, untidy hairstyles.
LOG, RECORD, JOURNAL, and REGISTER could all be synonyms for writing something down. Let’s try that first. 🟨
FRIEND and CHEER spark an association with the sitcoms Friends and Cheers. Maybe there are other singular forms of sitcoms on the board, too. Yep, SCRUB works, and so does WEED, if we broaden the category to comedies more generally. 🟦
TANGLE, MOP, and MANE are all still on the board—maybe they go with SHOCK? I’ve definitely read the phrase, “She had a shock of white hair,” or something similar, in books before. 🟩
That leaves HOG, FUND, TRIMMER, and MAZE. Hmm, let’s think—it’s probably a fill-in-the-blank, because I don’t see any other obvious associations. HOG wild, superFUND, hair TRIMMER, corn MAZE. Things that twist, things that oink, things that buzz, hmm.
Oh, I was thinking of a TRIMMER as in a set of electric clippers for giving a close-cut buzz, but when I think of it as a tool for trimming hedges, that’s when I think of it: hedgeHOG, hedge FUND, hedge TRIMMER, and hedge MAZE. 🟪
How to play Connections
I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:
First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Games app (formerly the Crossword app). You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).
Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.
You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.
How to win Connections
The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.
If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether 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, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!
To find the solutions for the NYT Connections puzzle, make sure to bookmark this page for easy access. Today's blue category features altered titles of popular entertainment from the '80s and beyond. This includes the words CHEER, FRIEND, SCRUB, and WEED.
If you're struggling to understand some terms in the Connections game, the text provides clues for each category. For instance, the green category uses words related to poor hair styling, such as MANE, MOP, SHOCK, and TANGLE.
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