The New York Times Connections
The New York Times Connections

NEW YORK — The New York Times' Connections puzzle on Wednesday mixed laundry instructions, wedge-shaped objects and a set of fiery compound words, with several double-meaning terms designed to steer players into the wrong groups.

Connections asks players to sort 16 words into four groups of four that share a common thread. The color-coded categories run from yellow to green, blue and purple in order of difficulty, from easiest to hardest. Players can make up to four mistakes before the game ends.

Readers who want to work through the puzzle on their own should proceed carefully. Hints come first, followed by the full answers.

Today's word list

The 16 words on the Nov. 4 board are FLY, POKE, IRON, WORKS, WOOD, WRING, WEDGE, BLEACH, PUTTER, CRACKER, DOORSTOP, LOLL, FLATIRON BUILDING, SHUFFLE, TUMBLE DRY and PIE SLICE.

Watch out for decoys

Several words on Wednesday's grid can fit more than one category. IRON, PUTTER and FLY each carry more than one meaning, so players should confirm a possible link works for all four entries before submitting a group.

IRON is a prime example. It could suggest a golf club, which might tempt players to pair it with PUTTER and WOOD. But that grouping is a trap, since those words each belong elsewhere.

FLATIRON BUILDING also contains the word "iron," which could pull players toward a laundry-themed group by mistake.

Hints for each group

For players who want a light nudge, here are clues for each category.

The yellow group involves shape. One hint for the group points to things with a wide, flat side. Think about objects that narrow to a point.

The green group comes from the laundry room. TechRadar's clue for the group was laundry advice. Picture the small tag sewn inside a shirt.

The blue group is about moving without much purpose. TechRadar described it as casual movement. Each word pairs with another small word to form a phrase.

The purple group is the hardest. The words in this group each begin with a hot four-letter word.

Today's categories

Players who need more help can check the full category names before seeing the answers.

The categories for Nov. 4 are Triangular Prisms With a Sharp Edge in yellow, Words After "Do Not" on a Care Label in green, Move Idly, With "Around" in blue, and Fire___ in purple.

Today's Connections answers

Spoiler warning: the full solutions follow.

The yellow group, Triangular Prisms With a Sharp Edge, is DOORSTOP, FLATIRON BUILDING, PIE SLICE and WEDGE. Each is a familiar wedge shape, including the famous triangular Manhattan landmark.

The green group, Words After "Do Not" on a Care Label, is BLEACH, IRON, TUMBLE DRY and WRING. These are standard garment care warnings.

The blue group, Move Idly, With "Around," is LOLL, POKE, PUTTER and SHUFFLE. Each forms a common phrase describing aimless activity, such as poking around the house or puttering around the garden.

The purple group, Fire___, is CRACKER, FLY, WOOD and WORKS. Adding "fire" to the front of each produces firecracker, firefly, firewood and fireworks.

Strategy tips

Wednesday's puzzle rewarded players who started with the most clearly defined group. The laundry instructions and wedge shapes were the most concrete categories, while the blue and purple groups relied on wordplay.

A helpful approach in Connections is to look for words that clearly fit only one category. TUMBLE DRY, for instance, has almost no use outside laundry, making it a reliable anchor for the green group. Similarly, LOLL fits naturally only with idle movement.

Players should also be cautious about obvious-looking sets. The presence of IRON, WOOD and PUTTER appeared to suggest a golf category, but the puzzle had no such group. Spotting red herrings like this one is often the key to solving without mistakes.

When stuck on the purple group, testing a common prefix or suffix across the leftover words can help. In this case, placing "fire" in front of the remaining terms reveals the link.

Bonus puzzle: Connections 3x3

The Times also offers a smaller bonus version of the game. Connections 3x3 asks players to sort nine words into three groups of three.

For Nov. 4, the 3x3 categories are Breathes Heavily, with HEAVES, HUFFS and PANTS; Dogs, with BOXERS, LABS and POINTERS; and Board ___, with GAMES, MEETINGS and SHORTS.

About the game

Connections is a web-based daily puzzle the New York Times launched in 2023, edited by Wyna Liu. Each puzzle has only one solution, and because some words carry double meanings, the groupings can be tricky to untangle.

A new puzzle appears at midnight in each player's time zone, which means some people are always playing the current day's game while others are still on the previous one.

The next Connections puzzle, No. 1243, will be released Thursday.