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 appears to fit with GEM and NUGGET as precious objects, but the real category is less literal.
It might seem like a language unit, but here it’s used idiomatically as a piece of advice, pairing with wisdom.
VANILLA looks like a flavor, but the puzzle groups it as a synonym for bland, not in a food category.
NAIL, RIVET, SCREW, and STAPLE are all common metal fasteners used to join materials. This set is straightforward, but the words also have other meanings (like fingernail or spiral motion) that might momentarily distract.
BASIC, MID, PLAIN, and VANILLA all describe things that are boringly ordinary. The mix of contemporary slang (MID, BASIC) with classic terms (PLAIN, VANILLA) is a nice touch.
GEM, NUGGET, PEARL, and WORD each complete the phrase '__ of wisdom.' While the first three suggest something precious, WORD is the surprise that forces you to think idiomatically.
BLACK, CHALK, CORK, and WHITE precede 'board' to name different classroom surfaces. This wordplay flex is a classic Connections construction that rewards lateral thinking.
Wyna Liu sets up a clever misdirection with GEM, PEARL, and NUGGET — a near-complete set of precious small objects that tempts solvers to hunt for a fourth stone. That the actual fourth is WORD, forming wisdom units, is a satisfying bait-and-switch. The purple category’s hidden 'board' suffix is a staple of the game, but CHALK and CORK add more obscurity than typical everyday boards like black or white. And slipping slang terms BASIC and MID into the nondescript group keeps the puzzle feeling current.
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.
