NEW ‘Connections’ Hints and Answers for Monday 23rd December

On By Littum

Looking for Sunday connections tips and answers instead? You can find them here:

ForbesNEW ‘Connections’ hints and answers for Sunday 22nd DecemberBy Chris Holt

Hello everyone! This is where I usually say something like “welcome to the start of a new week,” but time is incredibly foggy during the holidays.

I don’t know about you all, but I’m more or less in autopilot mode right now. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the time off and relaxing with family and friends, but I’m used to having a daily routine and it’s a bit disarming to be away from that. (I’m not complaining, though! Taking a break from the day-to-day is rarely a bad thing.)

Before we get started, I’ve started a discussion group for Connections and this column on Discord. You can chat about each game (and other topics) with me and other people. I’m always interested in finding out how other people approach the game, so join in! It’s funny.

It’s also the best way to give me feedback on the column, especially on the rare(!) occasions when I screw something up.

Today’s NEW Connections advice and answers for Monday 23 December will come straight up.

How Connections plays

Connections is a free, popular New York Times daily word game. You get a new puzzle at midnight every day. You can play on NEW website or game app.

You are presented with a grid of 16 words. Your task is to arrange them into four groups of four by finding out the connections between them. The groups can be things like clickable items, names of research study participants, or words with a body part in front.

There is only one solution to each puzzle and you have to be careful when it comes to words that can fit into more than one category. You can mix up the words to perhaps help you see connections between them.

Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to figure out, blue and green fall in the middle, and the purple group is usually the hardest. The purple group often involves puns.

Choose four words that you think fit together and press send. If you guess and you’re wrong, you lose a life. If you’re close to having a correct group, you may see a message telling you that you’re one word away from getting it right, but you still need to figure out which one to swap.

If you make four mistakes, it’s game over. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen with some tips and if you’re really struggling, today’s is Connections answer. As with Wordle and other similar games, it’s easy to share results with your friends on social media and group chat.

If you have one NEW Free access or Play subscription, you can access the publication’s Connections file. This includes all previous games of Connectionsso you can go back and play any of them you missed.

Apart from the first 60 games or so, you should be able to find my tips for each grid via Google if you need them! Just click here and add the date of the game for which you need clues or the answers to the search query.

What’s today’s hookup tip?

Roll slowly! Right after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I will reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you what words are included in them.

Today’s 16 words are…

  • BOAT
  • U
  • BOWL
  • M
  • YOU
  • CREW
  • V
  • YOU
  • 8
  • EWE
  • SCOOP
  • GLUE
  • TUESDAY
  • K
  • BIG
  • YEW

And hints for today Connections groups are:

  • Yellow group — soundalikes
  • Green group — different fits
  • Blue group – they aim for the same
  • Purple group – “man” or “computer” would fit in here

What are today’s connection groups?

Do you need extra help?

Be warned: we’re starting to come in spoiler territory.

Today’s Connections groups are…

  • Yellow group — homophones
  • Green group — necklines
  • Blue group — ways to express 1,000
  • Purple group — super ____

What are today’s connections answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll down the page any further until you’re ready to find out about today Connections answer.

This is your last warning!

Today’s Connections the answers are…

  • Yellow group — homophones (EWE, U, YEW, YOU)
  • Green group — necklines (BOAT, CREW, SCOOP, V)
  • Blue group — ways to express 1,000 (GRAND, K, M, THOU)
  • Purple group — super ____ (8, BOWL, GLUE, TUESDAY)

It’s always nice to get a perfect game after a loss. Here’s how I managed:

“Thanks, I hate it,” was my first thought when I saw this grid. But after some thought I was able to zip through the grid pretty quickly.

For once I used the strategy I keep telling myself I should: say everything out loud. It helped me get the yellows quickly.

I thought I had something with a group of things meaning “thousand” with GRAND, K and M. But I couldn’t see a fourth to go with them.

So I was happy to draw a link between TUESDAY and BOWL in my mind. That led me to the purple ones.

From there I realized YOU should go with what turned out to be the blues. I didn’t figure out the green connection, but I don’t think I would have inferred that. I don’t think I’ve heard of BOAT as a neckline for a T-shirt or sweater.

Let’s jam through a few clarifications. For blues, K refers to kilos and M is the Roman numeral for 1,000. THOU is just short for “thousand”, while GRAND is often used casually in connection with money, ie. 20 grand is $20,000.

As for the purple ones, SUPER 8 was a type of film used in cameras and the title of a pretty good sci-fi movie from 2011. SUPER Tuesday, meanwhile, is the biggest day of presidential primaries in an American election cycle.

That’s all there is to it for today Connections clues and answers. Be sure to check my blog tomorrow for tips and the fix for Tuesday’s match if you need them.

PS I feel obligated to recommend a holiday movie today, but I simply have to go with one that’s a little off. Better watch out is an enjoyably gritty domestic horror/thriller set at this time of year.

If you’re looking for a holiday watch that has some gnarly kills and a few smart riffs on it Alone at homethis might be the movie for you. I’m not including the trailer here because it’s a little too spoilery, but you can see Better watch out on Peacock in the US and Prime Video in Canada.

Have a nice day! Make sure to drink enough water! Call someone you love!

If you are so inclined, go for it follow my blog for more coverage of Connections and other puns and even some video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me a lot! Also follow me further Blue sky! It’s fun there.