The New York Times Connections
The New York Times Connections

Friday's New York Times Connections puzzle mixes a straightforward photography group with a tricky set of household red herrings and a wordplay category that left even experienced solvers puzzled.

Puzzle No. 1237 challenges players to sort 16 words into four groups of four. Hints come first, followed by the full answers.

How Connections works

In Connections, players look at a grid of 16 words and try to find four groups of four that share a common link. Players can make up to four mistakes before the game ends.

Each group is color-coded by difficulty:

Yellow: easiest Green: moderate Blue: harder Purple: hardest, often involving wordplay

Today's 16 words

The words in Friday's grid are:

DEMON, PIT, HANDS, WINGS, SHUTTER, GLUM, CURTAIN, SHADE, DRAPE, FLASH, RUG, GRANGE, LENS, PILLOW, BACKDROP, VIEWFINDER

Watch out for the red herring

The biggest trap in Friday's puzzle is a group of window coverings. SHUTTER, CURTAIN, SHADE and DRAPE all look like they belong together, but none of them ends up in the same group.

Forbes puzzle writer Kris Holt said identifying VIEWFINDER and LENS first helped him avoid the window-covering trap.

Hints for each group

Yellow hint: You'll find these on something used to take pictures. Green hint: These are places or features you'd find in and around a place where plays are performed. Blue hint: Each word can follow a verb that means to toss. Purple hint: Change one letter in each word to find something you might find in a fruit bowl.

Extra clues

Yellow: One of the words is also a burst of light. Green: One of the words is where an orchestra often sits. Blue: One phrase means to insult someone subtly. Purple: Change only the first letter.

SPOILER WARNING: The answers to Connections No. 1237 follow.

Today's Connections answers

Yellow — Parts of a camera: FLASH, LENS, SHUTTER, VIEWFINDER Green — Around a theater stage: BACKDROP, CURTAIN, PIT, WINGS Blue — Throw ___: HANDS, PILLOW, RUG, SHADE Purple — Fruit with first letter changed: DEMON, DRAPE, GLUM, GRANGE

How the groups work

Yellow: The camera group is the friendliest starting point. VIEWFINDER and LENS are only camera terms. SHUTTER also refers to the part of a camera that opens and closes to let in light, and FLASH provides extra light for photos.

Green: The theater group links words describing parts of a performance space. The BACKDROP hangs behind the action, the CURTAIN rises and falls, the orchestra PIT sits in front of the stage, and the WINGS are the hidden spaces at each side.

Blue: Each word completes a phrase starting with "throw." A THROW PILLOW and THROW RUG are home decor items. To THROW SHADE means to insult someone subtly, and to THROW HANDS is slang for getting into a fistfight.

Purple: The trickiest group requires changing the first letter of each word to reveal a fruit:

DEMON becomes LEMON DRAPE becomes GRAPE GLUM becomes PLUM GRANGE becomes ORANGE

Holt wrote that he "had no luck with the purples," though he added that GRANGE should have stood out in hindsight.

Why this puzzle is tricky

The window covering red herring is the main obstacle. SHADE fits the blue group, CURTAIN belongs to the theater group, SHUTTER goes with the camera, and DRAPE hides a fruit.

Players who submit the four window coverings as a group will lose a mistake right away. That makes it important to look for words that can belong in only one category.

Strategy tips for Connections

Start with the obvious. Words such as VIEWFINDER have only one likely meaning and can anchor a group. Be suspicious of easy sets. If four words seem to fit together too neatly, look for a fifth word that could also fit. That often signals a trap. Say the words aloud. Purple groups often rely on sounds, hidden words or letter changes. Use the shuffle button. Rearranging the grid can help players spot new connections. Save your mistakes. With only four errors allowed, guess only when you're confident.

More puzzles

Connections was launched by The New York Times in 2023 and quickly became one of its most popular games after Wordle. The Times offers several other daily puzzles, including Wordle, Strands, Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword and the main crossword.

Friday's Wordle answer, for players who want another challenge, is SLIDE.

A new Connections puzzle will be released at midnight local time on Saturday, Oct. 31.