Quick Links
If you are feeling stuck on today’sConnectionspuzzle, you should not feel alone because I was as well. Getting stuck on any givenConnectionspuzzle is quite normal,but not finding a way out is where things get tricky. Today, there is an interesting mix of words that feel in some ways like most of them belong in a giant category together, with a few words that do not fit in just to make it difficult.
ThedailyLetter Boxedpuzzleis a different type of word game, where players have to find the right letters to connect together without stopping on the same side twice in a row. It can create asatisfying gameplay loop as you test new possibilitiesand find new words to make. Once you do, you will have to find the right order to string them together in to get the solution for the puzzle.
Today’s Connections Category Hints
NOVEMBER 17 #525
The right hints can make anyConnectionspuzzle a little easier, as understanding what the puzzle is trying to accomplish is half the battle. However, trying tofind a balance between the right amount of hints and not giving away the answerscan be difficult sometimes. That is even more true in a puzzle like this one, as the words all seem so similar that the distinction is often the category itself. That being said, here are the category hints I settled on for today:
NYT Mini Crossword: 8 Strategies To Solve It Fast
This tricky little five by five crossword isn’t always as easy as it looks; here are a couple easy tips and tricks to beat your friends' times!
If you have the clues but haven’t yet solved the puzzle,wehave the solutions all lined up and ready for you to peruse. Like always, you’re able to first view the category names and see if that is enough before scrolling down to see the answers.
LEAGUE
UNION
This category was the easiest for me to spot today, although the words do still feel connected to many of the other words in this puzzle. However, seeing UNION and GUILD next to each other was a tip-off, and that is what made me finish out this category with ASSOCIATION and LEAGUE. There was still a feeling thatthis puzzle overall had a bunch of words that were loosely relatedbut not related enough to actually fill the categories. It might just be me, but that is how I felt when I was staring at the words.
SLINKY
SNUG
This category felt obvious, but trying to find the fourth word after I looked at CLINGY, SLEEK, and SNUG was a lot harder. I’m not sure I have ever heardthe term SLINKY used to mean “close-fitting”and I did Google it to make sure it was actually a definition. The dictionary did confirm that it was, but I maintain that no one has used that definition in a long time. It is a toy, and it will continue to only ever be a toy in my heart.
8 NYT Tiles Strategies To Score Huge Combos
The Tiles game for the New York Times mobile app asks you to use various strategies to pair matching visual patterns together to build huge combos.
PRAYER
PROPOSAL
This is one of the categories that felt likea lot of the words could be together and could not be together. A lot of these felt conversation-related, but there was not quite enough of them to put all of those together. There was also just general confusion about why DUBBING was in the puzzle at all. I think these feel more like times when you are speaking to someone else rather than kneeling, but I can at least see where they were coming from on that one more than with SLINKY.
POSSESSIVE
QUOTATION
It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize why FOOT was in this category at all even after I had finished the puzzle and had moved on. But now it does make perfect senseif only I had been able to recognize that sooner. I already had CONTRACTION, POSSESSIVE, and QUOTATION together and was just trying to figure out what the last word was. I was forced to try a different group to get my brain moving again, and in hindsight, that should have been more obvious.
Other Games Like Connections
If you want to keep the puzzling game going,check out one of the gameslisted in the box below:
Is It Free To Play?
Wordle(NYT)
Solve a random five-letter word by using color clues.EveryWordleanswercan be found in our daily updated list.
Yes
Crosswordle
Find the two words that intersect each other like a crossword puzzle.
The Password Game
Create a password in this ever-changing, not-so-simple game. you’re able to find somehelpful tips in ourPassword Gameguide.
