The New York Times Connections
The New York Times Connections

NEW YORK — The New York Times released Connections puzzle No. 1214 on Wednesday, and after Tuesday's tricky grid, many players will find today's puzzle more manageable, with a theater-themed twist providing the main challenge.

The Connections Companion rated the puzzle's difficulty at 1.9 out of 5, making it easier than Tuesday's puzzle.

Hints are provided below, moving from general to specific. The full answers appear near the end of this article.

How Connections works

Connections presents players with 16 words to sort into four groups of four that share a common theme.

Each group has a color indicating difficulty. Yellow is the easiest, followed by green, blue and purple, which usually relies on wordplay.

Players can make up to four mistakes before the game ends. A new puzzle is released every day at midnight local time.

Today's 16 words

MUSICAL, CINNAMON, TRIDENT, HOT DOG, STICKY, SQUIRREL, MONOLOGUE, PLAY, BANK, DICHOTOMY, HAMBURGER, STORE, CHOREOGRAPHY, STASH, ORCHESTRATIONS and TETRACYCLINE.

Today's Connections hints

Yellow: Think about putting something away for a future need.

Green: Let your appetite guide you. These are things you might find at a bakery or a cookout.

Blue: Look closely at how each word begins. The start of each word represents a number.

Purple: Think about the theater and an awards show where performers are told to "break a leg."

Watch for red herrings

BANK and STORE might look like they belong together as types of businesses, while PLAY and MUSICAL could appear to be general entertainment terms. Both pairs actually belong to different categories than they first seem.

HAMBURGER and HOT DOG might suggest a fast food theme, but they are part of a more specific group.

One word from each group

Yellow: STORE

Green: HOT DOG

Blue: TRIDENT

Purple: ORCHESTRATIONS

Today's Connections categories

Spoiler warning: Category names are below.

Yellow: Save for later

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Green: Kinds of buns

Blue: Greek numerical prefixes

Purple: Best ___ Tony Awards

Today's Connections answers

Spoiler warning: The full answers are below.

Yellow (Save for later): BANK, SQUIRREL, STASH, STORE

Green (Kinds of buns): CINNAMON, HAMBURGER, HOT DOG, STICKY

Blue (Greek numerical prefixes): DICHOTOMY, MONOLOGUE, TETRACYCLINE, TRIDENT

Purple (Best ___ Tony Awards): CHOREOGRAPHY, MUSICAL, ORCHESTRATIONS, PLAY

Breaking down the answers

The yellow group includes four ways to set something aside for the future. To "squirrel away" something means to hide or save it, much like a squirrel storing nuts for winter.

The green group lists types of buns: cinnamon buns, hamburger buns, hot dog buns and sticky buns.

The blue group required players to spot the Greek number prefix at the start of each word. DICHOTOMY begins with "di," meaning two. MONOLOGUE starts with "mono," meaning one. TETRACYCLINE, an antibiotic, begins with "tetra," meaning four. TRIDENT starts with "tri," meaning three.

The purple group consists of categories at the Tony Awards, which honor excellence in Broadway theater: Best Choreography, Best Musical, Best Orchestrations and Best Play.

Tips for solving Connections

Start with the group you are most confident about to reduce the remaining options.

Look for hidden patterns, such as prefixes or suffixes, which often appear in blue and purple categories.

Watch for words that could fit more than one group, since these are often red herrings.

Yesterday's Connections answers

Tuesday's puzzle, No. 1213, featured these groups:

Yellow (Financial firms, for short): BERKSHIRE, CITI, GOLDMAN, MERRILL

Green (Kinds of chairs): ADIRONDACK, EAMES, WINDSOR, WINGBACK

Blue (___ Inn hotels): COMFORT, DAYS, HAMPTON, HOLIDAY

Purple (Ending in talents): CATSKILL, KNICKKNACK, PIANOFORTE, STABILITY

About Connections

Connections launched in 2023 and is edited by Wyna Liu. It has become one of the most popular games in The New York Times' lineup.

The next puzzle, No. 1215, will be released at midnight local time Thursday, Oct. 8.

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