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.
Looks like the University of Connecticut, but its sound belongs to a different category entirely.
A common word for a performer, which might distract from its automotive homophone.
Could be mistaken for a workout move or a piece of land, but it's actually a clipped payment app name.
Seems like a medical term for bronchial tubes, hiding its SUV sound-alike nature.
BALANCE, CARDIO, STRETCHING, and WEIGHTS are all components of a typical fitness regimen. The category is straightforward, but the words are scattered to camouflage their connection.
BRASS BAND, DEVIL, RHINO, and VIKING HELMET all feature horns either literally or figuratively. The trick is realizing that horns are not just for animals but also for musical groups, mythical beings, and historic headgear.
Say BRONCHO, FORERUNNER, TROUPER, and UCONN aloud, and you'll hear Bronco, 4Runner, Trooper, and Yukon—all popular SUV models. The spellings are altered to form real words or proper nouns, making it a clever homophone category.
ELLE, PAPAL, STRIP, and VENO are each a well-known payment app name with one letter removed: Zelle, PayPal, Stripe, and Venmo. The remaining words look like everyday English, which brilliantly hides the digital connection.
Wyna Liu constructs a puzzle where surface words like UCONN and BRONCHO distract with everyday meanings while actually serving as SUV homophones. The workout and horns groups offer easy wins, then the homophones and truncated payment apps demand lateral thinking. Blending pop culture (money apps) with wordplay creates a modern, deceptive, and satisfying challenge.
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.
