If you’re struggling with Saturday’s Connections puzzle, Newsweek has your back.
The brainteaser was launched by The New York Times in June of last year and has gone on to become the newspaper’s second-most-played game behind Wordle, another word-based puzzle.
If you have never played before, Connections challenges players to uncover threads connecting a series of words. The viral mobile game is not always easy to complete and some puzzles are more fiendish than others, so today’s clues and answers are toward the end of the article.
How to Play ‘Connections’
Connections tasks players with grouping 16 words into four categories based on association. The themes that unite the words come from a broad range of categories, such as horror movie franchises and food. For example, a recent game linked the words “court,” “plaza,” “square” and “yard,” which all came under the category “open space.”
The board has a color-coding system representing levels of difficulty. The yellow category is the easiest, followed by green, blue and then purple. A group’s color is revealed once the words in a group have been correctly connected. If all four words are correctly placed into each set, the words will be removed from the board until all the words are removed.
Wyna Liu, a crossword editor at the Times who was asked to develop Connections, recently told Newsweek about her recommended tips for playing the game.
“My best piece of advice is to wait as long as you can before guessing,” Liu said.
“You may see the board and have completely identified the category, seeing five words that could belong in that category,” she added. “Don’t try to guess the four words in that category because, even though you know what the fifth member is, you won’t know which of the four it might not be,” which would ultimately waste a turn.
“Don’t do what I do, which is ‘rage solve,’” Liu said.
‘Connections’ #405 Clues for Saturday, July 20
Yellow: The answers in this category can describe someone who is talented at something.
Green: These words can be used to describe strenuous activity.
Blue: Words one would use to describe how long your phone has before it dies.
Purple: The answers in this category might not seem like they relate but can all be associated with the same three-letter word.
‘Connections’ #405 Answers for Saturday, July 20
Yellow Category: EFFORTLESS
Yellow Words: Fluid, Graceful, Natural, Smooth
Green Category: EXERTION
Green Words: Effort, Labor, Sweat, Work
Blue Category: ENERGY FOR AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE
Blue Words: Battery, Charge, Juice, Power
Purple Category: WHAT “POP” MIGHT MEAN
Purple Words: Burst, Dad, Mainstream, Soda
Did you guess the answers correctly? If so, congratulations. If you didn’t, there is no need to worry, as there will be another opportunity to crack the puzzle tomorrow. One of the best things about Connections is seeing if you can improve your score over time.
Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone. We will be back tomorrow with another round of hints and tips for each new game.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
The post NYT ‘Connections’ Clues July 20: Hints and Answer for Game #405 appeared first on Newsweek.
