Today's NYT Connections Hints and Answer for September 14 (#461)

Connections is a game from the New York Times that challenges you to find the association between words. It sounds easy, but it isn't—Connections categories can be almost anything, and they're usually quite specific. If you need a hand getting the answers, we've got you covered.

What Is Connections?

Connections is a game from the New York Times. The objective is simple: sort 16 words into groups of 4. Each group of words will be connected by some common idea or theme. That common element could be anything. We have seen everything from games that rely on the number of letters in the words to categories that require you to spot an extra letter at the end of the word. Sometimes they're references to economics, other times they reference fairy tales. There is no telling what sort of association there will be between words.

Once you're confident you understand the connection, select 4 words, then hit "Submit." You have only four attempts in total, so don't be too guess-happy.

Hints for Today's Connections Groups

Here are a few hints for the 461st Connections game to get you started:

Yellow: A dry or sweet alcohol. Green: How you can control a computer. Blue: Something at the beginning of a word. Purple: The counterpart to a Queen.

If you still need help, the actual group names are:

Yellow: Wine Bottle Info Green: Console Inputs Blue: Prefixes Purple: ____ King

Today's NYT Connections Answers

Wine Bottle Info (Yellow):

Grape, Region, Vintage, Winery

Console Inputs (Green):

Button, Knob, Slider, Switch

Prefixes (Blue):

Pro, Retro, Sub, Super

____ King (Purple):

Burger, California, Lion, Prom

How Did We Solve This Connections Game?

Today wasn't too difficult.

The first group I spotted was Yellow, "Wine Bottle Info," which was surprising, considering I don't drink wine. The words were grape, region, vintage, and winery—words that let you know what you're getting and where it came from.

Button, knob, slider, and switch are all physical controls (sometimes digitally replicated) that we use to control computers, so that seemed like a promising connection. They were in the Green group, "Console Inputs."

Pro, Retro, Sub, and Super all stuck out because they're prefixes, and I didn't have much else to go with. The Blue group was just "Prefixes."

That left Burger, California, Lion, and Prom. Since I knew they had to belong to the Purple group, I started attaching other words to see if anything stuck. Eventually I landed on "King," which creates a different meaning when paired with each of the words in the game. Purple was "____ King."

How Do You Guess Connections Groups?

There is no quick, reliable way to approach Connections like there is with Wordle, since Connections isn't algorithmic. However, there are a few things to keep in mind that can help.

Look for similar parts of speech. Are some words verbs and others nouns? Are some adjectives? Try mentally grouping them based on those categories and see if any other patterns jump out at you. Are the words synonyms? Sometimes categories will just be synonyms for a phrase, or very close to synonyms. Don't rely too closely on this, though. Occasionally, Connections will deliberately throw in words that are sometimes synonyms to mislead you. Try saying the words. Sometimes, saying the words helps. One puzzle we saw included the words go, rate, faster, clip, pace, speed, move, commute, and hurry—all of which are obviously related to the idea of motion. However, when you say them, it becomes a little more obvious that only four (go, move, hurry, faster) are things you'd actually say to prompt someone to get moving. Expect the red herring. Connections usually has words that could be plausibly, yet incorrectly, grouped together. Take the words Bud, Corona, and Light, as an example. You might instinctively see those three words together and assume they're lumped together in a category related to beer—but they weren't. Look for distinct words. If a word on your board doesn't have multiple meanings or can really only be used in one context, try using that word as the basis for a category. Shuffle the board. Sometimes, moving words around will help you look at them in new ways.

If you didn't solve this one, don't feel too bad—there's always tomorrow! And those words may align with a topic you're interested in, giving you a leg up on the competition.