Has Anyone Tried Connections.nyt?

[sandyRoe]

It's an on-line game from the same people who gave us Wordle. You're given 16 words and you need to arrange them into 4 groups.

It's harder than I initially thought.

[naomi24]

I do it every day.  Well, when I say 'I do it' - sometimes it doesn't quite work out like that.  The Americanisms throw me.

[JJ109]

I used to like it, but then there was a run of quite a few days when unless you were American, you stood no chance. I have given up with it!

[barry1010]

Yes, Ive been playing for a while and get very frustrated by the American references that I have no idea about.

A lot of baseball, basketball..

The  other day I learned that 'can' is another word for backside/bottom

[barry1010]

I much prefer the original game on Only Connect 

[wolf63]

I got all four groups right today, but that's unusual.

I often don't get any right.  As the others have said - too many Americanisms.

[elliemay1]

I've just done it for the first time

Connections 
Puzzle #281
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟦🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟦🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦

[barry1010]

I much prefer letter boxed, another game on that site

[sandyRoe]

Well done, Wolf and Ellie may.

I fail on it more often than not.

[Prudie]

I've been doing it for about 3 months. I'd put my completion rate at ~ 75% but I often don't know why the last 4 are connected. Agreed, so many americanisms, hardly surprising I suppose.

[elliemay1]

Doesn't it explain why they are connected?

[JJ109]

I have just done it now - today no Americanisms!

Connections 
Puzzle #281
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦

[barry1010]

A sunflower has spirals?

[JJ109]

https://thesmarthappyproject.com/fibonacci-in-a-sunflower/

[elliemay1]

//The seeds of a sunflower form two spirals, called parastichies, one set eminating from the center in a clockwise direction, the other in a counter-clockwise direction. In most cases, the number of clockwise spirals and the number of counter clockwise spirals will be adjacent numbers of the Fibonacci sequence.//

[barry1010]

I know nowt

[calmck]

I have been doing it for a while now. You can get hints to the groups that does help with the obscure ones. Yesterday and today managed with no hints

[Prudie]

Elliemay what I mean is the last 4 left are obviously a group so I submit but I sometimes can't see why until it tells me afterwards..yesterday's could all have a word associated with it but not commonly in UK though.

[Karamia]

I do like connections. I like puzzgrid because you can practice on lots and lots. You do not need to sign up just click on one of the numbers. If you don't like the look of a grid you can go back or click leave then try another. Plus you get the chance to say what the connection is for each row.

[elliemay1]

Thanks for explaining, Prudie

[calmck]

From the NY Times today

In the past few weeks, I’ve gotten a lot of emails and texts about the overall difficulty of Connections. While I’m not a puzzle editor — I leave that work to the experts — I do know of a few ways that can make solving more enjoyable.

We have help on offer, if you think you may need it. To summarize the most common advice: Taking a break is nearly always helpful. Finding ways to unstick yourself comes with time. Solving more often and more consistently will get you in the rhythm of what the puzzle is asking of you.

For more specific advice, a few months ago I collected these Connections tipswith Elie Levine, our community manager. Wyna Liu, the game’s editor, also wrote about her approach to editing it when it was first released last June. For other games, some ours, some not, we have a selection of articles you may find valuable.

Most importantly, it’s not a test. Have fun, especially if you can make that fun your own. For Peter Blair, who runs our Flexible Editing desk, that means designing a scoring system for Connections. For me, it means solving with my partner. For you it might mean something else. Tell us about it: [email protected].