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.
Tempting as a color or environmental term, but here it refers to a specific area of a golf course.
Often an adjective meaning coarse or uneven, but on a golf course it's a noun for the unmown grass.
Can mean to grow weary, and as a car part it's not immediately associated with air unless you think of inflation.
Evokes economic bubbles or soap bubbles; the air-filled angle is hidden behind its other common meanings.
These four terms all describe approaches to healing, from traditional folk remedies to holistic practices. The set is straightforward but cleverly includes words that can pair with a common word for medical practice.
These are all features you'd encounter on a golf course, from the manicured green to the sandy trap. The words double as everyday terms, adding a layer of misdirection.
Each of these items is inflated or contains air, from the obvious bubble to the playful whoopie cushion. The category is concrete but broad enough to catch solvers off guard.
Each word ends with a palindrome: noon, toot, stats, redder. The trick is spotting the hidden symmetrical sequences at the end of otherwise ordinary words.
The constructor layered multiple types of misdirection: GREEN and ROUGH look like simple adjectives or colors, while TIRE and BUBBLE have everyday non-air meanings. The palindrome-ending purple group is particularly elegant because the palindromes are buried at the ends of words and vary in length. This puzzle rewards solvers who consider both literal and linguistic angles, and the air-filled group offers a playful, tangible counterpoint to the abstract finale.
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.
