Start with the spoiler-free hints. Go deeper only when you need to. Reveal answers on your own terms.
A direction for each group — no names given.
What kind of thinking each group asks for.
Pointed nudges on the words built to fool you.
Every Connections board plants a few decoys. Here are today’s, and why they pull you the wrong way.
It seems like a literal food item, tricking solvers into looking for other edible things on the board.
This is a common animal name, which might make you group it with other creatures, but there are none.
This word is instantly recognized as a country abbreviation, masking that it's actually a television network.
A rare word that might send solvers down rabbit holes of obscure vocabulary, when it's really a phonetic clue.
These words are all informal ways of saying someone or something is doomed, finished, or in serious trouble.
These call signs represent some of the most recognizable basic cable television networks from the pre-streaming era.
Each word is a key part of the rhythmic call auctioneers use—usually heard as 'Going once, going twice, sold!'
Each word is pronounced like a part of the face: AYE (eye), HARE (hair), KNOWS (nose), and TUNG (tongue).
Wyna Liu cleverly layers a straightforward slang category with a nostalgic cable-TV group that doubles as a generational test. The auction chant is a crisp auditory set, while the homophones—especially the spelling choice of TUNG—force solvers to abandon visual meaning for sound. The trap words like TOAST (edible) and USA (country) sow just enough confusion to make the purple reveal a satisfying 'aha!' moment.
a textbook decoy
requires lateral thinking
Solving the easiest group first reshapes how you read the entire board.
The editors reuse certain misdirection patterns. Learning to spot them saves guesses.
Purple is never what it first appears to be. Six structural patterns explain most of them.
Film titles, band names, and celebrity surnames hide in plain sight.
