NEW ‘Connections’ November 21: Clues and Answers for Game #529

The work week is slowly but surely winding down, but that doesn’t matter Connections is – and today’s puzzle is as difficult as any.

Since the debut in New York Times in June 2023, Connections has quickly built up a large following. The puzzle challenges players to group words based on subtle links that combine logic with language skills. Today, it ranks as the publication’s second most popular game, just behind Wordle.

According to the publication, Thursday’s game difficulty rating is 3.3 out of 5, with the website explaining: “The difficulty level of each puzzle is determined by averaging the ratings from a panel of testers who are paid to solve each puzzle in advance for to help us catch bugs, inconsistencies and other problems. A higher rating means the puzzle is more difficult.”

Newsweek have collected some advice on how to play as well as hints and the answers for Thursday’s match, so be careful to scroll down if you want to solve it yourself.

How to play ‘Connections’

every Connections the puzzle contains 16 words that players must sort into four categories. The goal is to find the common theme for each category, represented by colors: yellow, green, blue and purple. The categories increase in difficulty, with yellow being the simplest, followed by green, blue and finally purple – the most challenging and often the most abstract. Some words may appear to fit into multiple categories, which can be misleading.

If stuck, players can press the shuffle button, which will shuffle where the words appear on the screen.

Wyna Liu, a crossword editor at The Times which was asked to develop Connectionstold Newsweek about her recommended tips for playing the game.

“My best advice is to wait as long as you can before you guess,” she said.

“You might look at the board and have completely identified the category, and see five words that could fit in that category,” she continued. “Don’t try to guess the four words in that category, because even if 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’ #529 Clues for Thursday, November 21st

Newsweek have some tips to help you figure out today’s Connections categories.

Yellow: Different varieties of clothing that people wear on their torso.

Green: Ingredient of a popular drink originating in Taiwan.

Blue: Words that relate to life in the sea.

Purple: The start of four different words that, when completed, spell out a type of food.

‘Connections’ #529 Reply for Thursday, November 21st

Yellow Category: SHAPE OF SHIRTS

Yellow words: Flannel, Oxford, Polo, T-shirt

Green Category: COAL IN MILK

Green words: Boba, Bubble, Pearl, Tapioca

Blue Category: WORTHY NAVY, FAMILIARLY

Blue words: Coral, Jelly, Sponge, Star

Purple Category: STARTING WITH PASTA NAMES

Purple words: Fett, Penn, Torte, Zit

Did you guess the answers correctly? If so, congratulations. If not, there will be another opportunity to beat the puzzle tomorrow.

Connections published at midnight in your local time zone. Newsweek returns with another round of hints and tips for each new game.

In the meantime, you could try your hand at it Wordle-another popular game from New York Timesfor which Newsweek also provides daily hints.