Tim Mulkerin
Credit: Ian Moore
If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Sunday, June 23, 2024, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for June 23, NYT Connections #378! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.
If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.
Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!
Credit: Connections/NYT
Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle
Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:
Yellow category - Words you might say to someone to snap them back to reality.
Green category - If you felt under the weather, you might use these words to describe your condition.
Blue category - Activities of a large oceanic mammal.
Purple category - The beginnings of slang terms for a few metropolitan areas in the United States.
BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!
We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)
A heads up about the tricky parts
BUG does not refer to an insect, nor is it a verb. It’s a word that could refer to having a stuffy nose, for example.
SPOUT is a verb today, but it doesn’t refer to rattling off an opinion—it refers to spraying.
People often refer to New York City as “The Big Apple.” Are there any other American places that have alternate names, too?
COUGH and ENOUGH don’t go together, despite having similar spellings.
What are the categories in today’s Connections?
Yellow: ”SETTLE DOWN!”
Green: MINOR AILMENTS
Blue: WHAT HUMPBACK WHALES DO
Purple: ___ CITY NICKNAMES
DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW
Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.
What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?
The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is ”SETTLE DOWN!” and the words are: EASY, ENOUGH, QUIET, RELAX.
What are the green words in today’s Connections?
The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is MINOR AILMENTS and the words are: BUG, CHILL, COLD, COUGH.
What are the blue words in today’s Connections?
The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is WHAT HUMPBACK WHALES DO and the words are: BREACH, DIVE, SING, SPOUT.
What are the purple words in today’s Connections?
The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is ___ CITY NICKNAMES and the words are: MAGIC, MOTOR, SIN, WINDY.
How I solved today’s Connections
RELAX, ENOUGH, QUIET, and CHILL are all words you might say to someone who’s anxious or having a tantrum. Oh, but I’m “one away.” Ah, I see that EASY also fits with these words. Gotta figure out which one doesn’t fit.
SING, BREACH, DIVE, and SPOUT all seem related to dolphins or whales. 🟦 Phew, I wasn’t sure about that one.
SIN and WINDY could be part of a “___ CITY” category (“Sin City” referring to Las Vegas and “Windy City” referring to Chicago.) After a quick Google, it looks like MAGIC and MOTOR round out the category. (Miami is often called “Magic City” and Detroit is known as “Motor City.”) 🟪
The last two categories, which are supposed to be the easiest (green and yellow) have me scratching my head today.
OK, if there’s a category that includes words you would say to someone acting out, that means BUG, COUGH, and COLD would be leftover. Oh, those are all colloquial terms for having a mild illness; that goes with CHILL. 🟩
That leaves RELAX, ENOUGH, QUIET, and EASY. 🟨
Connections Puzzle #378🟨🟨🟨🟩🟦🟦🟦🟦🟪🟪🟪🟪🟩🟩🟩🟩🟨🟨🟨🟨
How to play Connections
I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:
First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Games app (formerly the Crossword app). You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).
Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.
You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.
How to win Connections
The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.
If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.
Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!
