Start with the spoiler-free clues. Reveal the answers only when you've truly given up.
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 it could belong with 'kinds of schemes' (as in a scam or heist) but actually means to move silently.
Seems like it could be a detective movie (like 'Color of Night') but is a type of scheme.
Might be mistaken for a wordplay category (like rhyming words) rather than a type of scheme.
CREEP, SLIP, SNEAK, and STEAL all combine with the preposition 'in' to describe entering a place quietly and secretly.
COLOR (a color scheme), PONZI (a Ponzi scheme), PYRAMID (a pyramid scheme), and RHYME (a rhyme scheme) each name a different type of structured plan or pattern.
CHINATOWN, KNIVES OUT, SEVEN, and VERTIGO are all acclaimed films centered on detectives or investigators solving mysteries.
In ELEGY (LEG inside E_Y), KARMA (ARM inside K_A), KEYED (EYE inside K_D), and SHANDY (HAND inside S_Y), each word contains a body part with two additional letters placed on either side.
a textbook decoy
requires lateral thinking