The New York Times Connections
The New York Times Connections

NEW YORK — The New York Times' Connections puzzle on Monday mixed scams, denim styles and serrated kitchen tools. The trickiest group hid sea creatures at the end of everyday phrases.

Connections asks players to sort 16 words into four groups of four. Players are allowed up to four mistakes, and the color-coded groups progress from yellow, the simplest, through green and blue to purple, the most complex.

Hints come first, followed by the full answers.

Today's word list

The 16 words on Monday's board are STEAK KNIFE, CARD SHARK, CON JOB, BOOTCUT, NAVY SEAL, SHELL GAME, MINT LEAF, GAMMA RAY, TAPE DISPENSER, LOW-RISE, FUN SPONGE, RIP-OFF, SKINNY and FLIMFLAM, GRAPEFRUIT SPOON and DISTRESSED.

How hard is it?

Monday's grid was rated easy. TechRadar's puzzle writer rated it "Easy" and finished with a perfect score.

Watch out for decoys

RIP-OFF and SKINNY each have more than one meaning, so players should consider each word's possible uses before committing to a set.

CARD SHARK is the biggest trap. A card shark is a cheat at the card table, which makes the phrase look like a natural fit with the scams group. It belongs elsewhere.

Hints for each group

TechRadar offered these clues: yellow is designed to trick you, green is well-worn trousers, blue shares a jagged element and purple is marine life second.

Today's categories

The four groups are Deceitful Scheme, Jeans Descriptors, Things With Serrated Edges and Ending in Sea Creatures.

Today's Connections answers

Spoiler warning: the full solutions follow.

The yellow group, Deceitful Scheme, is CON JOB, FLIMFLAM, RIP-OFF and SHELL GAME.

The green group, Jeans Descriptors, is BOOTCUT, DISTRESSED, LOW-RISE and SKINNY.

The blue group, Things With Serrated Edges, is GRAPEFRUIT SPOON, MINT LEAF, STEAK KNIFE and TAPE DISPENSER.

The purple group, Ending in Sea Creatures, is CARD SHARK, FUN SPONGE, GAMMA RAY and NAVY SEAL. Each phrase ends in a sea creature: shark, sponge, ray and seal.

Strategy tips

Unusual tiles can be a good place to start. TechRadar's writer found it hard not to begin with GRAPEFRUIT SPOON because it seemed such a random tile, and after adding MINT LEAF to the serrated edges group was convinced they had landed a purple first.

The jeans group is also safe, since BOOTCUT and LOW-RISE have almost no other meaning. Once those two groups are done, splitting the scams from the sea creatures comes down to which words end in an animal.

Yesterday's answers

Sunday's groups included Hair Salon Services (BLOWOUT, COLOR, EXTENSIONS, TRIM), Muscular (BUILT, CUT, JACKED, RIPPED) and Things That Help Make Sense of a Situation (CLARITY, CONTEXT, INSIGHT, PERSPECTIVE).

About the game

Connections is a web-based daily puzzle The New York Times launched in 2023, written by the paper's crossword editor, Wyna Liu. Connections No. 1248 arrives Tuesday.