NYT Connections today — hints and answers for Friday, December 6 (game #544)
Nice console games 
Good morning! Let’s play Connections, the NYT’s clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.
What should you do once you’ve finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I’ve also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc’s Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (game #544) – today’s words
Today’s NYT Connections words are…
- PUZZLE
- MANIA
- BUZZ
- GATE
- CORE
- HEX
- VEX
- REX
- SLINKY
- STUMP
- POX
- PERPLEX
- JINX
- HAMM
- SPELL
- PILLED
NYT Connections today (game #544) – hint #1 – group hints
What are some clues for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- Yellow: State of confusion
- Green: Broomstick
- Blue: Playful Pixar pals
- Purple: The people have spoken
Need more clues?
We’re firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today’s NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #544) – hint #2 – group answers
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: BAFFLE
- GREEN: CURSE
- BLUE: “TOY STORY” CHARACTERS, FAMILIARLY
- PURPLE: COLLOQUIAL SUFFIXES
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #544) – the answers
The answers to today’s Connections, game #544, are…
- YELLOW: BAFFLE PERPLEX, PUZZLE, STUMP, VEX
- GREEN: CURSE HEX, JINX, POX, SPELL
- BLUE: “TOY STORY” CHARACTERS, FAMILIARLY BUZZ, HAMM, REX, SLINKY
- PURPLE: COLLOQUIAL SUFFIXES CORE, GATE, MANIA, PILLED
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 3 mistakes
The first thing that jumped out from today’s Connections was a collection of words ending in X. Surely we’re not going to fall into the trap of thinking they’re a group, right? Er…
No, no, let’s resist. With Wicked in theaters right now, words connected to witches seem timely, so HEX, SPELL, JINX, and POX didn’t require magical skills to spot.
Staying at the movies, the first thing that came to mind with the word BUZZ was the astronaut from the Toy Story movies. It helps being a parent who’s seen the movies about 62 times, of course, but I didn’t know the pig had two Ms until now.
As someone who exists in a near-permanent state of BAFFLEment today’s yellow was straightforward, but Purple had me stumped – my first thought was things connected to wrestling. I’m not sure what PILLED is, but it could be some killer Caretaker move, surely? Instead it was COLLOQUIAL SUFFIXES – every day’s a school day!
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections answers (Thursday, 5 December, game #543)
- YELLOW: APTITUDE FLAIR, GIFT, INSTINCT, NOSE
- GREEN: EXTERIOR FACE, FRONT, OUTSIDE, SURFACE
- BLUE: TECH COMPANIES AMAZON, APPLE, INTUIT, ORACLE
- PURPLE: __STONE BRIM, LIME, RHINE, YELLOW
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don’t technically need to solve the final one, as you’ll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What’s more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It’s a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It’s playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
