NYT Games Thread - Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee etc

Today’s Wordle is a DL favorite.

I like connections. I wish there was an archive.

For OP

Connections is fairly NYC-centric. IIRC, one game's entry included “super” and the connection was “carries keys” or something like that. Do other regions have supers or building managers in apartment buildings?

No, r4. Outside NYC the tenants clean and maintain apartment buildings themselves. After all, they have nothing better to do.

How bizarre that a New York-based newspaper should be New York-centric.

Have you played Connections, r6?

Sorry, r5, I was unclear. (Nice snark though.) I meant, don’t people refer to those individuals as “building managers,” rather than “supers” (/SOO-puh/).

And yes, r6 it is bizarre that the country's paper of record should be so NYC centric in its GAMES section, from which it derives significant $$$ nationwide.

Wiki:

A building superintendent or building supervisor (often shortened to super) is a term used in the United States and Canada to refer to a manager responsible for repair and maintenance in a residential building. They are the first point of contact for residents of the building.

Although very common in large cities in the United States and Canada, the job title is not often used in the rest of the world. Other common titles for this job include resident manager, apartment manager, and caretaker.

I’m sorry, but I’m pretty sure that hayseed from Indiana, Ann Romano, called Schneider her super.

(Didn’t she? Too lazy to check.)

I love Spelling Bee. I’ve managed to convince my friends I have a brain with three and four syllable words!

They moved to the big city—Indianapolis.

I do too r11. I like the fact that in Spelling Bee there is no "win" or "lose," you just see how many words you can get from the day's letters. Very calming.

There is winning: Genius or Queen Bee

R1, right you are! lol

I love Connections and Strands

Spelling Bee is my favorite. I get a laugh the next day when I see that I found a complicated word like DEACTIVATED and somehow missed some simple four-letter word.

How do you approach Connections? Go through each word carefully, or just skim them all and see what jumps out?

[quote]How do you approach Connections? Go through each word carefully, or just skim them all and see what jumps out?

If I find two that seem to be related, I look for a third before moving on. It helps to remember that the more obvious ones often aren't connections. If the puzzle has LUCKY and CLOVER in it, the solution is usually something like " ____ CHARMS" and "TYPES OF HONEY."

My brain works backwards, so often I find the more obscure connections first and the more obvious ones last.

I'm convinced "Wyna Liu" (the creator) is a Gen Zer somewhere on the spectrum.

As a non-American, I’m pretty proud that I can get through Monday and Tuesday crosswords without googling anything anymore.

College mascots and USA state capitals are now burned into my brain.

For instance, I never knew what the hell a “Bruin” is.

Connections 349 out in Australia, much more straightforward than the previous days.

Connections almost comically simple today

I got Wordle in 4, then the little AI guide told me I was stupid and I feel bad.

The dog themed Connections, I swear to GOD

A today’s connections was HARD. WTF. Makes me feel stupid.

Can anyone explain this analysis from the Wordle bot:

[quote] There was only one possible solution left — and this wasn’t it. (RINKS is a valid guess, but it’s unlikely to be a solution based on what I’ve learned from playing Wordle.) But there’s still only one solution remaining. You should solve the puzzle on your next turn. [I did]

Why is it saying there was “only one possible solution left,” RINKS was a valid guess, but wasn’t it?

What is the difference between a “possible” solution and a “valid” guess?

Wordle doesn’t use words that end with a pluralizing S, r25.

I think the Connections editor is often sly, putting BIG next to KNOCKERS, say.

I didn’t know that. I’d prefer that they reject an S plural entry then, rather than let you enter it when it can’t be correct.

If you highlight “?” The second example they show is “Pills”

I do like the NYT Sudoku. They’re pretty basic.

And Strands is a fun game, I hope it’s added to the app once it’s out of beta.

Ugh, a rebus.

Digits was my favorite. Of blessed memory

I got the Spelling Bee pangram as the first word today. I imagine the lesbians got it even faster.

Seriously, R32. I thought, “Naw, they wouldn’t allow that word. WOULD they?”

Engulfed?

I’m such a gold star gay, I still haven’t got it.

Oh. You’re talking about yesterday’s game.

I made a shameful error in Wordle. The bot was polite about it: “This guess wasn’t my favorite.”

“You moron” would have been more appropriate.

[quote]I got the Spelling Bee pangram as the first word today. I imagine the lesbians got it even faster.

The word was VIBRATOR.

Also vibrato for the musical lesbian

R2, here's an archive:

You can also make your own!

I made a quick Pride edition for you.

Thanks, r41! That was fun.

Adorable work R41!

Thank you r41!

And finally we have a Wordle archive.

The purple was too obscure for this NYer, though I did get the other three.

Spelling Bee tip for lots of points: if you have the letters to spell HEAD, you also can spell AHEAD, HEADED, DEADHEAD, and DEADHEADED.

I can't even get one of the connection at R41. How about a hint or two?

“Pride” is a hint.

Well after a half hour, I'm at 10 incorrect and I play this every day. And "Pride" isn't helpful. At this point it's pissing me off.

The puzzle has one set anyone could get. The others require knowledge of gay trivia which you either know or you don’t. I knew two of the three sets, which was enough to determine the last one, which I did not know, being from the wrong coast.

If you don’t know the info, it will be impossible. It seems you don’t. I suggest you give up.

Spoiler Alert:

The arcane sets are 1) characters in an iconic play; 2) Album titles by an iconic pop star and 3) streets in a gayborhood.

^ You seem bitter and maybe a little salty? r41, The secret to Connections is to find the synonyms first, today's was confusing because there were 2 sets of 4. Start with "strew".

I always assume I'm not going to understand the last 4, as it's often esoteric but you don't need to to win.

I don't enjoy the word games other than Wordle but I do play the geography game Worldle. They show you the outline of a country and you have 6 guesses with mileage and directional hints.

I also play WhenTaken. You are shown 5 photos from all over the world and you guess the location and the year.

I guess I'm just not gay enough.

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Turn in your card.

Apparently, “wank” is not a word.

I just tried spelling bee. I now hate myself.

I tried “wank” too, R56.

I sort of cheat at the NYT puzzles. On the spelling bee there's a place where you can look at user created definitions. It makes it a lot easier, but there's less of a sense on accomplishment when you hit "genius."

I also play the crossword with the checker on, so that it lets you know when you've entered an incorrect letter. Again, this makes even the Saturday puzzle possible for me. But I feel guilty about it.

The Queen Bee is a censorious bitch, afraid of both prudes and the woke.

I guess censorious doesn’t mean what I thought it means. I wanted “censorial.”

Early morning task, complete Connections and Spelling Bee. At times I am quite dense with connections, but with practice I now manage to find all four most days. Not always 4/4, which is my goal. Spelling Bee was enjoyable, until I realized Queen Bee was possible. Now, I must try for it. My rule for myself is that I must get to Genius or beyond on my own. Then I go to Community which has players hints for each word (I don't think that is quite cheating, since I need to think to solve for the words) . Some guy named Steve must get to it at the crack of dawn, because he has all the clues you might need there. A few others also supply them, but his are best and first.

You need not wait till the next day to see the complete list. Go to sbsolver.com and the complete list is there same day.

Bee can be very frustrating, in that certain words are not recognized, although they should be. Also, some words are spelled two different ways.

I think community hints spoil Spelling Bee as they usually give the word away. After I get to genius, I will look at the chart in Spelling Bee Buddy that gives you first letter and word length, but not beyond.

Connections Spoiler alert

Does one really feel “salty”?

Also “feeling some sort of way” is rather vague. The other three words connote angry disappointment or pique. Something went amiss, I think.

I’ve tried my hand at creating one*. Let me know what you think.

*Connections

R64, “feeling some sort of way” is the Times version of jive.

I’m not having much luck, r65. Found the green; 12 errors.

R67, I can give a hint. But I think I should wait a bit. In the meantime, here’s another one.

I liked your R68 better than your R65. I guess I just never heard two of the words with PIECE used that way. This is fun. And sorry, R49. I should have prefaced it with explanation given by R50 that it’s more trivia heavy. I’ve been watching this British trivia show from BBC on YouTube called Pointless. I wish there was a game like that online.

Loved it R64. Thanks! 🟦🟦🟦🟦

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Thanks, R41- that was great!

I made another one for y’all. All 3-Letter words!

Spoiler alert

I did spot 3 terms for fake hair, but “switch” was unknown to me, and “bang” and “shag” seemed like better guesses. About a dozen times.

Also unfamiliar with your use of “dog” (as is my dictionary, and at least the first two pages of entries in The Urban Dictionary) 🤷🏻‍♂️

Just not on my wavelength, I guess.

Thanks R53! I can’t stop playing the WhenTaken archives when I should be finishing yard work!

[quote]Also unfamiliar with your use of “dog”

You've never been raw dogged??

R67, here’s a hint for R65. Think of what you might see at a bar with a name like The Eagle.

I’ve never seen “dogged” alone as a synonym for raw-dogged. Perhaps I need to attend better parties.

Another good one, R72! That was tricky.

I liked r72.

Whoa, r19! That's a famous one! I guess you don't know the Banana Slugs, for sure!

R72, that was awesome. I’m going to try to make better ones.

Here is my take on the Datalounge edition of Connections. Enjoy!

And mine!

I mean, and mine!

Just one more. I promise. Another Datalounge-themed one.

My students alerted me to Strands, which is beta. I play it like the others but I find it annoying.

Yes—Strands is not fun.

The puzzle at r85 made me laugh. A tip o' the wig to you!

I'm still a fan of Scrabble.

Apparently, bibliological is not a word.

Apparently, “gabbagool” is not a word?

Fuck that.

The one at R84 was diabolical, but in a good way!

Never seen a clue fit into three groups. Not sure it’s kosher.

Thank you, r92!

I tried to lay some traps about our DL faves.

Today’s Connections was for the slower children.

I got green last on connections today. Make of that what you will.

I agree that Tuesday’s Connections was one of the easiest ever.

Almost missed today's Wordle—my first two entries yielded zero letters.

Whew today. Took me six.

I'm not even going to try to get oday's Connections

I’m with you, R100.

WTF?

It was pretty easy once you ignored the obvious.

The movie one?

Yes, the movie one

IR102 is correct. I take back what I said at R100

I got the blue and purple ones today first, but then I didn’t know where all the movies had taken place so I lost.

You don’t need to know anything about the movies.

Yes today's connections looks intimidating but it's pretty easy. I didn't know DUMBO so that was my last one.

Today’s Connections is pissing me off.

Really, R109? It took me two minutes to complete it when other days it might take me 30 minutes or more to finish. However, I didn’t solve the movies version at all, so it can be hit or miss.

It’s a case of cultural misunderstanding not being American. For me, the baseball and the pencil references meant nothing.

^r109

[quote] For me, the baseball and the pencil references meant nothing.

If you solve the other three categories first, then you don’t need to understand what the last four words mean or how they are connected.

That’s cheating. It’s not really solved until you figure out the final connection.

I sometimes don't understand the logic used in Spelling Bee. Often there are obscure foreign words that are acceptable (like today) and other common ones aren't.

They don’t accept words that might be offensive (like ‘twat”) or that are proper nouns unless, like one today, they have acquired an independent meaning. They exclude words they consider “obscure” (which is arbitrary) or foreign unless they are accepted in their dictionary as absorbed into English like an honorary title accepted today.

There is no justification for hatha which does not exist as an English word without yoga. I think Sam must be a practitioner.

What bugs me the most is when they change their minds on words. Happens a lot.

R116, and what about haka?

Haka is an English word.

How is a traditional Maori war dance with singing an English word?

How is teepee or igloo an English word?

My second Connections

Hundreds of comments complained about the omission of “abattoir” (slaughterhouse) a week or so ago. But the arbitrariness I guess is part of the game.

Oh, and by the way r114, missing the final connection is cheating only in your own mind. That’s the way the game is structured, to get the last line when you’ve figured out the first three.

Dino was a baby 'dino'saur not a dog R122

Ok, honey, if you like to think you’ve succeeded in solving Connections without figuring out the hardest one, you just go ahead and call yourself a champion.

I often get the blue and purple ones first, so I don’t think the last category is necessarily the “hardest”. However, clicking on the last four items to end the game is like putting the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle in place. You don’t need to think about why it fits in the last open space. It just does. Put it in its place and move on.

It’s the one you haven’t solved. That makes it the hardest for you.

Face it—you are calling 3/4 of a solve good enough. If that works for you, great.

He was a dog to me 🐶

I don’t understand the Connections controversy. Even if you know all four connections, one group HAS to be the last you enter.

You really don’t even know what they consider the hardest until the color pops up when you get it right.

The issue is do you “win” after getting three groups without figuring out what the connection is for the fourth group.

[quote] Even if you know all four connections, one group HAS to be the last you enter.

Yes, clicking on the last four items before you have used all of the tries, with or without knowing their category, does win the game. Seeing how upset that makes r125/r127 is just a bonus.

Why would you even play the game if you’d rather declare yourself a winner without completing it?

They have accepted “viand” in the past. Not today.

Noted r133. Tried it and no dice today.

In solving Connections today I realized why r125 is wrong in thinking you have to work WHY the last four connect to declare yourself a winner: how many times have you solved a line of the puzzle even though your reasoning differs from the revealed answer? This happens to me all the time.

So you don’t even need to try?

If I stumble into the correct answer for the wrong reason, I don’t consider that a “win” in Connections. Of course there are times when my description is close enough to theirs to count, but if I’m not even close, it’s a “loss.”

[quote] If I stumble into the correct answer for the wrong reason, I don’t consider that a “win” in Connections.

That’s because you’re a loon.

There’s no clock. There’s no streak. The game is designed to reveal the final group every time. What purpose is there to playing Connections other than getting the connections?

I guess some people have so little “winning” in their lives that they’ll take a “victory” they don’t earn even when playing by themselves. Sad.

And I guess that some other people have so little winning in their lives that they concern themselves with how total strangers… oh, never mind.

The whole purpose of Datalounge is talking to strangers Try again.

Today’s crossword has a Connections theme.

Movie characters Connections.

This one was fun to make.

This was was inspired by OP (at R144).

R125,The point is, as you know, that the 4th Connection is already, per the game, "figured out." Of course, it is more satisfying to do that before hitting "submit," but the game itself doesn't require it.

I think that is a fatal flaw in the game. Add a fifth row in order to scatter 4 completely irrelevant words as red herrings. That would separate the Sherlocks from the Watsons!

We know by now the current tricks: What word often precedes/follows? How many associations does one word have?/Do any fit another word? What are the various grammatical forms/uses (noun, verb, adjective, etc.)?

I think "Connections" is easier than "Wordle," and I got the latter in 2 today!

Is it a “fatal flaw’ in the game or are you playing it wrong? Hmmm. Let me think.

[quote] I think that is a fatal flaw in the game. Add a fifth row in order to scatter 4 completely irrelevant words as red herrings.

I thought the same thing about adding extra words. The way it is now, the point of the game is to categorize three sets and the fourth has no relevance.

It seems those recent contributions require you to be familiar with the plot of all the included films. I’m out.

[quote] The way it is now, the point of the game is to categorize three sets and the fourth has no relevance.

Or, you’ve completed missed the “point of the game.” Hmmm. Let me think.

R147, Reading comprehension much? What do you think I meant by "I find 'Connections' easier than 'Wordle'"?

Because I solve "Connections" in a trice! Zero errors for today's #372, FYI.

Finding the connection among the last four is often the most challenging part of the game. Of course you find the game easy if you skip over the hardest part.

[quote] Or, you’ve completed missed the “point of the game.” Hmmm. Let me think.

Like the fourth category, you’ve already had the right answer handed to you: the way it is now, the point of the game is to categorize three sets and the fourth has no relevance. You’re welcome.

R150, No harm in adding a tad bit of difficulty.

Your change would be fixing a problem that does not exist. The object of the game is to make the connections, not simply to find the four groups. The last connection is often tricky enough. Adding two extraneous words would just muddy the waters.

R149, just a passing familiarity with the plot should be adequate.

I’ll give you a hint to one of the four groups: Geography.

Hint to another group: Profession.

I hope this one is a bit less opaque.

Today's Spelling Bee contains the letters for CUMDUMP.

Really, r157?

No Barbara?

R159, did you mean Barbra?

If you did, well, she doesn’t fit in any of those four categories.

But maybe you’ve just given me the idea for a Barbra-themed Connections.

P.S. Turn in your gay card.

I often get the purple category first.

Connections

Puzzle #373

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[quote]If you did, well, she doesn’t fit in any of those four categories.

BARBARA would go with DIANE, MELBA, and PRINCE ORLOFF.

Yesterday's Spelling Bee had CUMDUMP. Today it's TEACAKE.

Are we sure the Spelling Bee isn't one of us?

Dildo was either Saturday or Sunday

I FAILED at Connections today. 😨

Struck out here, too, r165. Got zero correct.

But! got wordle in 4 as usual.

Connections, 6/21:

One category was so stupidly simple as to be rejected; and another category was simply stupid. The creators need consistency in level of difficulty and maturity.

Now today's (6/22) "Connections" was Goldilocks---just right in degree of difficulty, like an Olympic platform dive! (If you haven't been watching, tsk tsk!)

Agree r168 Connections 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦 The purple is often not the last (but usually is).

Oops, format mishap ^^^

Happy 7 across

Today's Spelling Bee was ridiculously easy.

As are you by all accounts.

Y'all.. Whee has this game show been all my life. This is like Connections for the mensa crowd. It's nice to see smart people just be smart. It's not just about trivia like Jeopardy. And I love the host. Brits, is this a popular show? Oh it's called Only Connect and it's been off for 20 years or so.

I don’t watch game shows but it turns up on UK Gogglebox fairly frequently.

Yesterday’s Connections had TWO, TOO, TUE, and TO as one Connection. Stupidest category of all time.

There was a puzzle in the episode that was actually very beautiful. Can you guess the Connection?

-Beethoven's 7th

-Center of Gravity

-3rd of November

-Very Beginning

Ohh didn't realize the NYT did a copycat. Wordle was basically Lingo and Lingo is back but with RuPaul?

R177, I Googled. There is nothing "beautiful" about the UTTERLY STUPID CONNECTION.

What is it r179?

I don’t like Victoria Coren Mitchell or her unfunny husband.

Each clue self-reflectively indicates where the letter "v" is within the clue. the 7th letter in Beethoven is v, etc.

I guess the Spelling Bee isn’t one of us, because today it rejected FRAU.

How dare Spelling Bee not accept bitch?

I think they used to. Some cunt must have complained that it’s “sexist.”

Ridiculous

Today it accepts MANOR, but not FOOTMAN?!?

So annoying

And moron is fine, but gringo (another day I know) was not?

I couldn't complete Wordle at midnight and gave up after the first two words I submitted revealed three letters. I woke up at 4 am, a word popped into my head while I was still groggy and I entered it and solved Wordle.

I love how one's subconscious works at problem-solving.

R184 Probably the same cunt who complained about "bimbo".

Who puts broccoli on a jacket potato?

I'll post tomorrow, 7/14, on why today's "Connections" has a group with an INCORRECT item.

For 7/13: Group = "Words with a silent 't'."

The "t" in the word "witch" is not truly silent. It is pronounced by "tapping" the tongue on the roof of the mouth.

It is basically pronounced as "wit-ch."

Now pronounce "which." No "t" = no palate tap.

Off to today's!

Today’s crossword is something different. I suspect they’ll receive fewer complaints than they might have.

I do the Spelling Bee, Wordle, and Connections every day, occasionally the crossword, though I hate crosswords with an editorial (always flippant) tone or themes of Broadway musicals or some other shit that puts me at a disadvantage to proper words.

Wordle is either easy or a bit of a disaster, it all depends on my mood for it that day. I occasionally squeak by at "Phew!" level, but do reasonably well not to apply any strategies or use assistance. The few times I got the prize on the second guess owed mosty to a stroke of luck: the first word that fit that popped to mind (which isn't always the correct answer.)

Connections I always get by grouping the related words and then figuring out the theme of the relationship - or sometimes not. It seems it's always possible to get three correct answers and then the fourth solves itself.

Spelling Bee I like because in the right mood it's a challenge to see how quickly I can race through it to Genius level. for me it's the star of the show, simple as it is.

Okay I made another connection game-- for the Eldgergays!

Well, that's just great. Today's Spelling Bee won’t accept DICKHEAD as a word, even though it would be a pangram. Fuck.

For shame!

I was annoyed about that as well.

Anyone know why the second Wordl thread was nuked?

Didn’t know there was one, ElderLez.

Got it in 3 today. You?

Two

Got the wordle in two today as well.

It was nuked. I just noticed. And I'll add I got it in three today too.

Two again today.

Three for me. My habitual first guess is not great but I stick with it for what can only be superstition.

I don’t understand why you lose your Wordle streak if you don’t do the puzzle before a certain time. Do they assume you’ll cheat after the results are published when 50 million people could give you the word if you asked? Same for Connections

You have until midnight. How long do you need? Yes, they assume you'll cheat.

Two today. Woohoo!

Me too! And only one hint used in Strands.

Go you two! Took me four. Same here on Strands.

Flunked the mini. How do you flunk the mini? You run out of patients and press Reveal Puzzle, that’s how. Some nerve!

^^^ patience

Wow! Didn’t know that was a possibility.

Every morning with coffee: Wordle, Connections, Strands, and EASY Ken-Ken. Love 'em all. Connections makes me crazy. My longest string of wins is SEVEN!! And I'm proud of it. Strands can be either too, too easy or impossible. Can't start my day if I don't play all of them.

[quote]Wow! Didn’t know that was a possibility.

Desperate times, desperate measures, ElderLez …

I got Wordle in one today, baby!! My second time in 723 plays; 98% wins.

Drinks are on me. 🥹

Too generous r215, thanks! Well done.

Did anyone fall for the Golden Girls in Connections today?

I did R217. I should have known it was too gay to be true.

I knew it couldn't be it when there was no e in blanch, but it was cute!

Blanch.

Connections was cute this morning.

Sexy connections

This was one where all 16 answers clicked at once. I don't remember that happening to me before.

I like that the Spelling Bee bee is wearing a witch's hat.

[quote]Connections was cute this morning.

Was that the one with colors r221? I flunked that one. Clever you!

Spelling Bee could have had another pangram today if it had allowed DOGPILING. And PONDING isn't in their vocabulary?!

I think Spelling Bee needs its own thread! I am addicted to it as well.

Connections just got a promotion in the App.

It’s now featured with the Crossword, Spelling Bee and Wordle

Congratulations, doll.

Yes and not so clever today R225.

Spelling Bee REJECTS “mangina.”

I'm still playing games despite the strike. Am I the only scab?

What strike?

For R232:

Oh. Now I feel bad for doing the crossword, a rare distraction in these dark days.

uh-oh. Didn’t know about it. So no, r232 you’re not the only one.

The Times is minting money, and those workers deserve some. On the other hand, still pissed at the union that helped get editor James Bennet fired.

Oh wait, it’s the tech workers' union workers striking, not the NewsGuild of New York, which is the reporters union.

Screenshotting my piddly 98 game wordle run.

Not doing the puzzles is just empty symbolism as long as you continue to subscribe. If you want to avoid being a scab, you really need to cancel your subscription. Has the union asked people to cancel?

Apparently they are asking people not to do the puzzles or use Cooking (which I just did), but not asking us to cancel our subscriptions. In other words they want the Times to keep getting our money, so they are in a better position to get a raise, while we deprive ourselves of what we paying for as some kind of gesture. I think I’ll pass on that offer.

The crossword gimmick today was really clever.

I hated today’s Wordle.

R239 it was tough, I solved it in 5. I don't have the pay subscription, I play all the games daily free except for Sodoku and Tiles.

Yeah, I finally solved it in 5, but it wasn't easy.

Took me 6 and I was sweating

Also five

What sort of crackhead created today’s connections?

Granulated != Grain

In 5 but could NOT believe it … seriously? Come on …

I thought Connections was easy for a change.

Are you all enjoying the sports Connections?

Have a serious quarrel with Sunday's Connections, purple category. What country does she think we live in?

And I got a Phew, so it’s not just sour grapes.

Also a phew and a protest.

I don’t follow , r247.

Do you mean apostrophe for quotation? A single quotation mark is used for a quote within a quote and is the same symbol as an apostrophe. Might have been more accurate to use the symbol ‘ instead of the word apostrophe since technically the single quotation mark us not an apostrophe, but that would have been hard to read as you can see here.

Foot and dubbing (but maybe I’m just ignorant)

Foot as in measurement. 6’ 3”.

Dubbing is a bit dubious, but we have seen “Kneel. I dub thee Sir whatever” in the movies.

Ahh R251 - I’m just stupid.

R252 that’s such a Britishism.

No, it’s not r249. An apostrophe and a quotation mark are different punctuation marks.

If you’re talking about (in the U.S.) supposedly using apostrophes to enclose an internal quote, I.e., a quote within another quote, that doesn’t work either, as there's no such thing as a “backwards” apostrophe to open the internal quote.

It was a fail.

(I was being somewhat cryptic in my orig post to avoid spoilers.)

They are physically the same symbol in most fonts. As I said, you can read the connection as what ‘ might mean, but an ‘ is pretty hard to read on its own, so they spelled out its most common purpose.

No, they’re not the same in most fonts r255. They each have a different purpose, and they are shaped differently for that reason.

On old typewriters, an apostrophe and internal quote were shaped the same (straight vertical strike, wider at the top) because a typewriter had a limited # of keys. But for publication, a *typesetter* would then select the appropriate physical metal type (“sort”) in each instance.

A typesetter wouldn’t use an apostrophe or double apostrophe to open a quote, either because it was shaped differently from a quotation mark or else it curled in the wrong direction.

There is only one key on a computer keyboard for both marks. You’re being a pedant.

SB accepts so many odd exclamations but not “wowie” hmph

God I hate the shortened words for people who can’t make a crossword work.

No one would ever read, write or type that.

Spoiler alert

I’ve never heard of a chain as a organizational structure metaphor

[quote] I’ve never heard of a chain as a organizational structure metaphor

Are you being serious? Chain of command?

Also, to take something “up the chain”.

I was thinking of org charts.

Yes, a chain of command org chart.

That’s a standard organization chart. You can label it a chain of command, but there’s no chain depicted

I busted on today's Connections which is very rare.

I never heard the expression of a dog bay.

Baying at the moon?

"baying of the hounds" is a thing

Sunday Nov 24 Connections:

Fuck Wyna Liu

Were you tripped up by the Addams family?

It was easy to get today’s purple in Connections, since my color is ash blond.

The first thing that popped out to me in Connections was the dance genres.

I found it pretty straightforward. Had to guess that “jungle” was a dance music genre.

R270 only for ten seconds, but no errors.

Crossword author has to be a church freak

Why?

Too much religious crap.

Wordle spoiler alert

It was a bitch today.

Very good, r278. Almost flunked it myself. Phew

Today’s crossword is excellent. Don’t miss it.

FUCK, forgot to do WORDLE yesterday, broke my streak of 124 in a row. What's the point, anymore, my life's purpose is over. All because I got distracted by STRANDS and the diacritical marks theme.

I did the same thing the other day r282

Connections bothers me but I keep playing it.

Hate it today

Same here r284. Flunked it today.

The first thing that jumped out to me in today’s Connections was the Toy Story characters, followed by the curses and then the baffles.

Interesting connections this morning.

I found connections annoying. Drawings are too imprecise for word play. The ice cream one was particularly unclear. And the triangle’s meaning was unlikely to occur to most people.

I had another word for the ice cream image and almost had the triangle meaning. Even if the triangle was written out it's not the most obvious

On the sundae image, there’s an arrow pointing to the fudge to make it clear that that is the word.

I'm sticking with Wordle only at this point, it's a nice 2 minutes of brain floss in the morning. The rest (especially Connections) ended up sucking a lot more time from me.

Useful hint r290, ty. I only do Connections so I can get to STRANDS.

The fudge could be sauce or syrup.

Favorite: Spelling Bee. I enjoy solving this everyday (with an exception every 3 months or so where I fall short of Genius)

Wordle - Some days I'm great at this, others I'm just not in the right frame of mind. A solution on 2nd try happens, but very rarely, and for me it's always down to a lucky guess than a stroke of brilliance; usually i solve in at the 3rd, 4th, ir 5th try. Sometimes I'm not in the right mood and the closer I get, the farther away seems a solution.

Connections is hit or miss - I'm good about spotting relationships among words, and terrible about a lot of the pop culture and sporting stuff, fucking musicals, shitty films, that sort of thing always gets solved in the fourth row. (Toy Story, Disney, Words from Kate Hudson Film Titles...I don't know that dirt of shit at all.) I usually solve it, and only then are some of the seemingly obvious relationships revealed as some popular shit I don't know or care about. It's the least rewarding of the three.

There was a slight chance the arrow might still refer to the whole image. I was thinking chocolate sauce or chocolate syrup that one might have had a few times as home. Some of us aren't pigs getting kicked out of the ice cream parlor at the end of night.

[quote] The fudge could be sauce or syrup.

I suppose, if the more obvious answer of “fudge” didn’t work out.

a picture of R296

The answer is obviously clear AFTER you solve the puzzle, r296. My point is that the drawings are sometimes fuzzy references to the words needed and I did not enjoy trying to figure them out.

[quote] The answer is obviously clear AFTER you solve the puzzle, [R296].

That doesn’t make sense. I was able to solve the puzzle because it was clear before solving it. If a person wanted to show a picture of “sauce” or “syrup”, there’s better choices than showing a drawing of a hot fudge sundae.

Syrup be easy to show. How would you convey sauce? Maybe someone making a pizza

It’s a sundae, to be sure. The “hot fudge” part is only clear after you solve..

I definitely was thinking chocolate sauce. chocolate syrup. This could almost be regional like soda/pop or just experience.

This is a strong brand association. The image on the bottle looks just like the picture in Connections.

“Genuine chocolate flavor” probably means something, but I have no idea what.

Today’s crossword has already generated over 1,000 comments, mostly negative. That’s the most I’ve ever seen. My contribution was “A puzzle that requires elaborate instructions is probably not a good idea.”

One of the wrinkles is that certain squares are unchecked. They are meant to be used to fill the puzzle only vertically. Horizontally, they do not fit, but are collectively used to spell out a message. If you have a plausible, but wrong, letter in one of those squares, good luck spotting the mistake. I didn’t find mine until I tried to decode the message which is something of a chore.

Flunked today's CONNECTIONS. I don’t see what “light bulb” has to do with the stated category. Even using hints, couldn’t finish STRANDS today, although got the Spangram somehow.

Maybe NYT puzzle constructors are competing to see how many readers they can annoy.

Oh, now I see about “light bulb”. That’s pretty good.

The 'lightbulb' group I got last. How many R306's does it take

The mini crossword archive goes all the way back to 2014, and I am working my way backwards. I'm up to, or back to, June 2022.

Today’s Connections was easy, although I had never heard of a carpet tennis court before. I knew clay, grass, and hard, and went with carpet since it’s a type of flooring.

Same.

Which one of you friends of Dorothy created Connections today?

It was too easy for me or I'm not awake yet. It's never the obvious thing in the top line!

Todays Connections was too easy.

Is anyone else having a tough time with Wordle lately? The last few days I've had to google clues.

I got Wordle on the second guess yesterday.

So did I, but I am stuck today.

How do you Google clues for Wordle?

Totally stuck today also

Same here. I have the vowels but can’t get anywhere with my remaining consonants. Have only 2 guesses left

It's a tricky one but amusing that you are "stuck"

I got Wordle in two yesterday as well, but today took me five tries.

Thought I might blow Wordle today, but was able to get it in five. I see there's an 11% failure rate.

I'm never that great at Connections, but I got today's fairly quickly, so yeah, it must've been an easier one. ;)

After three rounds I had only a yellow a, but after way too much time, I got it in four.

[quote]How do you Google clues for Wordle?

It's not Google, but I check this Twitter feed for hints if I'm stuck.

Sunday's spelling bee won’t accept CONVECTION ?? Am I spelling it right.?

Thanks for giving away a pangram.

Oh fuck, r326 sorry. I misread my own results.

Terribly sry.

It’s okay. There are too many today.

Love it when Wordle Bot tells me that it didn't like my second pick, yet what I put in reduced the possibilities from 55 down to 3 .. and then it doesn't even offer a better word to have put in. I solved it on the next try.

The bot is annoying sometimes because it bases its choice on having a complete list of the remaining possible words so it literally knows which choice is the most “efficient,” while we mortals have to rely on probability.

My second choice went from 53 to 4, and the bot gave me a 99. I guess it doesn’t like you, r329.

Today I got sloppy and put in a word that was inconsistent with what I had learned, and the bot ripped me a new one. I did this when I had actually narrowed it down to 1. I didn’t realize you could get a 0 score. You can.

Caution: While I solved it in five, Sunday's Wordle has a 13% failure rate. It could easily have been six for me, because I got it down to two possibilities and just happened to choose the right one.

I got today’s in five. It could have been four, but I was thinking of AKL.

Wordle 1,289 5/6

⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜

⬜🟩⬜🟨⬜

⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜

⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Today’s Connections has me stumped.

I have blue and yellow, and three out of four on what is probably purple, but also stumped.

Two today. Too easy.

Today's connection might involve a drink? I didn't like the purple catagory.

The purple was terrible. Boo!

Not even Kyle likes Dorit on anything other than a “quick I need an alliance” level.

Dorit is bad at networking and making friends. That’s why she relied so much on PK’s spurious business skills.

[quote]Not even Kyle likes Dorit on anything other than a “quick I need an alliance” level.

You've been drinking honey wine!

Today's Spelling Bee didn’t accept PILLHEAD, fyi.

I don’t know why I bother.

I found it odd that it wasn’t accepted either.

Purple was so easy in Connections today, 1/5. It was the first combination that jumped out at me.

I didn't know Sunday's Wordle was actually a word and have it in my brain that it's simply a prefix. Because of that, it took me 6.

Same here r344 but got it in 4—thx for hint

I would never have gotten today’s purple group in a million years, so l’m glad I gave up quickly

I've maybe heard of the purple group today? My last one to complete for sure.

Two today. Good first guess.

Haven’t finished it but always thought the pangram in today’s SPELLING BEE was a proper noun.

Some words can be both. Like panama. I haven’t found the pangram yet, but I did find two other examples of words that are both.

The Wordle bot just told me that my pick for a third word was 96, but it had a better choice (99). However, its word was eliminated by the starting word. I have lost all confidence in the bot.

Apparently, “perfect” is a martini specification. News to me.

Okay, I finally did it ... got Wordle on the FIRST guess .. and did not cheat or go looking for any clues. (This is for Friday's game.)

The 'bot says I'm a genius and should go buy a lottery ticket. Maybe I should. ;)

I was kind of surprised that my guess was so far down in the list of words used on the first try: No. 5315 coming in at below one tenth of one percent. I know I've used this word before. It has two vowels and three consonants that are used a lot.

Give me a middle letter r353, you brainy bitch.

R354 The middle letter is 'O'.

Getting Wordle on the first try is luck, not genius.

Wow, I got today's Wordle in two, using my standard IRATE as the first word.

Thank you r355.

Though even with your help, it took me 6. 😭😭😭

Why aren’t tiffin and incel considered words????

Took me five, but the bot still gave me a 99 score. There were three equally likely answers after my second guess, so I got a free pass on the score for guessing wrong twice.

Incel is relatively new slang. I didn’t know tiffin but my dictionary says “chiefly British.” I think that rules it out.

[quote]Why aren’t tiffin and incel considered words????

I feel you R359. Spelling Bee rejects words that can be seen as disparaging (even if there are otherwise acceptable definitions for a word, like coon). I’ve had “incel” rejected before. Think I even had frizzy rejected, if memory serves.

Not just because it’s slang—Spelling Bee accepts phat—but because it may be seen as denigrating.

Have never heard of “tiffin,” but Spelling Bee includes all manner of nonfamiliar words from other languages, so ..

After my first two words, (both Wordle bot approved), I had 14 possible solutions and I picked the right one, but the bot did not approve of my choice. Joke’s on you, Wordle bot. You lose.

R361, isn't frizzy six letters?

Caution on Sunday's Wordle. I got it in four, but with some luck. There's a 36% failure rate so far, because even if you have the last four letters, there are about 10 letters that it could start with. It even took the 'bot five guesses.

Spelling Bee doesn’t like “nappy” either, IIRC.

I failed Wordle and the bot graded two of my tries 0. I didn’t know a 0 was even possible.

Harsh.

Some consolation. The bot gave 0s to everything but its own first choice. I think’s it’s wonky.

Spelling Bee, not Wordle, r363

Final Four in Connections: Batter, Chin, Bottoms and Lawyer

Tempted by “things you beat,” but it doesn’t quite work.

Isn’t today the debut of STRANDS on the actual Games page ? It was previously hidden behind CONNECTIONS, for me.

Yay STRANDS, baby, so proud .. !

Still had to cheat to get all of the clues, though ..

On two today and super random.

Bot just gave me a 0 for a valid guess that it says is “unlikely to be a solution based on what I’ve learned from playing Wordle.” At this point it says there is only one possible solution, but it is not my otherwise valid word.

It was a term from botany that I didn’t think was particularly obscure.

Discog?

Weak.

R373 That whole connection was rather eye-rolling, but it seems like so often lately the hard one is some kind of word-trick.

Need to keep the hidden words in mind. Discog made me first think of the website discogs.

Glad to see discog is actually a thing. I thought they were making it up.

Do games like Spelling Bee and Connections start easier on Mondays, like the Crossword, and get harder as the week goes on?

I think someone asked this before, and the answer was no, but I’m not convinced.

I got purple in Connections first today!

R377, we're not telling...

Well, the Mini was impossible today, Saturday, so that confirms my suspicions r379. Had to resort to “Reveal puzzle”.

“Are you sure?” Yes, show me the damn answers. Fuck it. How am I supposed to know who wrote “The Hungry Caterpillar,” ffs.

It was a challenge but I did it in 3:01 which is about triple my usual time.

R377–I think they do make some effort in that direction. Easy games are more likely to appear on Mondays and hard ones are more likely to appear on weekends, but there’s a lot more wiggle room and I don’t think there is a perceptible increase in difficulty each day as there is with the crosswords.

Connections was hard today. Not obtuse but a good number of little words and ambiguous connections.

Connections was just the opposite for me today. I thought it was pretty easy,, and the purple connection was even the first one I saw.

Connections is very personal. Sometimes I just don’t have a bit of obscure knowledge that makes it fall into place. For example, yesterday I saw Griffin, Munster and Partridge as TV families right away, but didn’t recognize Pickles as the 4th. Not knowing that show made what might have been easy more difficult.

Yeah I though Swiss family Robinson and chose Swiss rather than pickles at first

blue, Munster, Swiss … I thought of cheeses.

Today's Spelling Bee didn't allow etui. That word is in every other crossword, but they don't recognize it?!?

Spelling Bee doesn’t recognize a lot of things that appear in crosswords. Like proper nouns.

But I take your point. It’s fucking annoying when you know some obscure word, type it in happily, and get “not on our word list.”

Got it in four, but the Wordle for Monday 2/10 is proving to be a fail for about 13%.

It took me 5, but to be fair, I started without a single usable letter. I was definitely getting nervous by the end.

R390, same (4/6) and that was luck, my 2nd try locked in correctly on the vowel/s.

I’m newly hooked on Spelling Bee. I like the mental skill it develops: the ability to see more possibilities right in front of you. When I can get to “Amazing” entirely on my own, which is about 1/3 to 1/2 the time, it feels good.

Even after solving yellow and green, Connections for February 12 was beyond me.

R394 Was stumped after yellow and green and if I hadn’t chanced to get the purple, I’d have been in the same boat.

This was one of the Connections that required familiarity with a certain product of pop culture, which I lacked. Sometimes there's just no way you can win a particular category.

That’s why I never waste much time trying to guess a remaining purple. I just tick them all off for the win. I consider it revenge. Feels great.

Connections today did not go well

Wordle was a cold hearted bitch today. Got her in six, way off my average.

Impressive R393. I’ve not built the Spelling Bee skill set, and rely heavily on the community whenever I play. I admire your ability.

Got it in 4, but it look a long time to click.

I got Monday's (2/17) Wordle in two. It's been awhile. I suppose it may have helped that the word is often in the Top 20 for first guesses.

A fairly easy Connections. I even got the Purple first.

Spelling Bee: I have a bone to pick with young Mr. Ezersky this morning.

That is annoying Torta, but I’m already 38 points over genius this morning with no assists from spelling bee buddy so I can’t be too upset.

ElderLez R403, h! So tell me , is Genius the name of that last level above Amazing and it's actually attainable? I've just started Spelling Bee the past week. I give myself 10 minutes over breakfast to try to reach Amazing. Haven't gotten higher so far, and I reach Amazing half the time.

Queen Bee is over Genius. I’ve never gotten it without a spelling bee buddy assist. I am probably about another thirty points from that now.

Gave up on yesterday's Spelling Bee pangram. Got to Amazing with only 14 words. “H” was the center letter. Fuck me.

Got Green and Yellow for Connections (2/23) pretty quickly, but failed with Blue and Purple. Too many food items and couldn't decipher the connection, since three in Purple could very easily relate to items in Blue.

I got all today’s right without mistakes. Yay me. That almost never happens.

Connections for Wednesday (2/26) was one of the easiest ones in a long time. Of course, purple came by process of elimination, with this one being groan-worthy as many of them are.

After 3 weeks I’m kind of over Spelling Bee.

You start out feeling good because you get to “Great”’all by yourself using words you know, words you’d actually use every so often. But then, over time, if you keep looking up the answers…. it starts being a game of “how well have you memorized this game’s 500 to 1000 alien and obscure words that you’ll need to have memorized, to consistently reach Genius?” Less fun, and more chorelike, at least for me.

That’s a fair criticism of Spelling Bee. But on the other hand, some of the words you didn’t already know are perfectly cromulent.

My Spelling Bee top is to write the letters down on paper in an ordinary horizontal form. I can “see” words better than way. I have found the hexagonal format stumbles me somewhat.

Caution on Wordle for Friday (2/28). It's currently showing 16% failure rate. I got it on the sixth try.

Also got it on the 6th try.

No hits at all on my first two tries. Sea of grey.

Got it in four

I got it in four because of your warning

Got it in five. Would have gotten it in three had I picked the correct letter the first time.

Wow. It happened to me again. I got Wordle on the first guess (for Monday March 3). No cheating.

It was just six weeks ago (up at R353) that it happened to me the first time.

This time, though, I'm sure there are quite a few others, because the word appears in the Top 20 starter words. I haven't used this word in a very long, long time.

3 strikes before I got any of the Connections.

This is ridiculous. Totally a word. You and I have tens of thousands of villi across our small intestines, and we would be in terrible nutritional shape without them.

Spelling Bee wouldn't accept HOMO today.

It doesn’t accept words that might be considered offensive. PUSSY

I guess they don’t want the inevitable complaints.

In two. Woohoo!

I've played Spelling Bee daily for years, and it seems like today is the first time I've seen the letter "s" as an option. Am I wrong?

You aren’t wrong. It is in honor of the 2,500th bee

R426 Ah, that makes sense. Thank you!

You gotta know when to hold ‘em

That surprised me too, R425. I almost didn't catch on, then entered a plural by accident (typo fingers) and was surprised that it took.

The Wordle bot scored my third attempt a 60 even though it was the solution . It called my choice a “lucky guess.” Fair enough, I suppose, but one of its choices (which it naturally scored 99) was IMPOSSIBLE given previous results.

Drunk again?

The wordlebot has some issues......

The Wordle bot is legitimately terrible.

Thursday's 3/20 Wordle has a 22% failure rate so far. I'm guessing most people are getting the last four letters fairly quickly, but there are six words that it could be.

If you get that far, I'd suggestion playing an elimination word to get rid of as many of those possible first letters as you can. That's what I did and was able to get it in four (same as the bot!)

Yeah well fuck Wordle. I didn't guess the right one.

I got the last four on the second try. Solved on 6! Whew.

Also solved in six

Took me five, although truthfully I was nearly out of options due to prior guesses.

Regarding today’s Spelling Bee, how is “MONGOLOID” not a word?!?

They don’t include words people might consider offensive. Mongoloid is an archaic racial classification and an archaic term for people with Downs Syndrome

Todays Categories reached a new low on the blue category.

Thanks r439. But you would agree with me that it IS a word? And this IS Datalounge?

I just thought a bit of “that kind” of humor might be appreciated here. And only here.

I would also add that there have been a few words of the new dictionary that I find objectionable but have been accepted by Mr. Ezersky.

I would think some people would find DILDO offensive, but it's allowed.

They also pick and choose which foreign words are recognized. Today, DORADO was, but DIABLO wasn't.

Foreign words have to have been adopted as English words (per their reference dictionary) to be accepted. They often revolve around cooking ingredients, dishes or techniques and geographic features

Dorado is a fish. It’s not a foreign word.

Obviously, not everyone is going to agree about which words are offensive. It is not offensive in the “I don’t want to think about that word” sense. It’s offensive is the political sense. “Nappy” for example. Or “harlot.”

Weds., 4/02/25

Letter-Boxed, Solve Within 6 Words:

Got it in 2️⃣❗🥳

Spelling Bee:

I don't think TPTB say an attempt "is not a word"; I think a rejection is "it is not on the list."

Darned if I could make any word with one of the letters today!

connections today wtf

I saw someone talking about what order people do NYTimes Games and decided to add one or two. (Everyone starts with Wordle.). The Mini Crossword is fun. Strands is kinda fun. Spelling Bee is annoying and not for me.

I start with Spelling Bee and have to reach Genius before I can move on. Then I do Strands because it’s my least favorite. Then Connections and Wordle in that order.. Then the crossword for dessert.

Yesterday’s spelling bee should have accepted zoonotic.

R448, Agreed, considering there were ZERO other words using "z" there! Lack of an "e" did that.

There were two words using the z including, of course, the pangram.

R444 here. The two words were "journalistic" and "crux." 😊

Pray tell, r450.

Never mind, r450. Found them.

I should have seen the "-ization" ones.

You know you can get the answers to yesterday’s Bee right in the Bee?

Click on “yesterday.”

Friday's Wordle is showing an 18% failure rate.

I got it in four, but only because my opening word had three letters in their correct spots.

I feel like nobody's playing Athletic Connections. It only gets a few comments per day. I love it and hope they don't drop it.

I got it in five but I don't think I've ever heard that word before. I just had to google it.

Also five and I knew the word, but I can imagine many people don’t.

Got it in 6. Phew indeed! It helped that I've seen it before a few times in other Wordle variants.

I got it in four, but similar to r455, my second guess had three letters.

R456 I never heard of athletic connections. Just played it, and lost, but thanks for the new game!

I knew the Wordle because I once had a boss with that as his surname.

Tough pangram today

Monday's Wordle (4/7) was a failure for me, as well as about 16% of players so far. .. I know the word, but probably think of it more as a proper noun. .. The bot praised more than one of my guesses, but deemed them "unlucky. "

It took the bot five tries and I noticed that there was some luck there, since two of the three remaining words it could have been for me were also still available to the bot.

Failed here at WORDLE today, too, r464. Grrrrr!

Got it in 4, but somewhat lucky to get it.

6 for me. I hate when you wind up with a situation where you basically have to rely on luck to get it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Also 6 for me.

Order of play:

MiniCrossword

Wordle

Connections

Spelling Bee

In two today!

Same here, r470!

Got it in three; probably could have done two, but I thought it had already been used before.

On another note, I think I completed Connections in less than 30 seconds.

I got it in two, but matched no letters on the first try.

I fell for the trap in Connections.

I’ve just started doing the crossword and am nervous about moving up from Mondays and Tuesdays.

R474, The 4 James Bonds? I fell for that one! "Pierce, Daniel, Sean, Roger." Except "Pierce" was a verb; "Daniel" was Biblical; I forget the other two.

Oh, yeah, "Sean" was an "SH" sound.

R475–my advice is to stick with the harder puzzles even if you get almost nothing on the first pass. Solving the harder puzzles is a skill you can learn, but you have to push through the frustration

Walk away and return if you get stuck. Look things up if you have to. (Even if your goal is to eventually not “cheat,” looking things up while you learn to think like the puzzle makers is a great tool.) Progress is not linear. The more words you get, the easier the remaining ones become.

It may be slow going at first, but put the effort in if you can. You will eventually get MUCH faster.

Thank you, r478. The fact that I’m getting a little bored with Monday’s should help give me push to Wednesday’s!

My Wordl misses are almost always related to making a wrong guess- sometime more than once. With Connections my biggest problems are esoteric (to me) cultural of language issues. Often I get 3 groups pretty easily which of course gets me through, but I don’t see the connection at all in the 4th group when I enter it!

You’re not “through” if you don’t find the fourth connection. Yes, the game’s design tells you which four words comprise the fourth connection, but you still have to figure it out before you submit them, or you haven’t completed the game.

Technically not true, r481. It might not be "cricket," it might not satisfy one's competitive nature, but one needs only tap the last 4 items to complete the game. The game is inanimate, so it can't know if you've made the "connection"!

You know. You are the only player. If you’re happy claiming a victory you did not earn, it is certainly true there is nothing to stop you. Congratulations, I guess.

I think I have fought r481 on this before. Winning the game means correctly deducing OR guessing the four categories. Many times I have correctly sorted a category even though my reasoning was not that of the game creator.

That’s ridiculous because everyone who finds three group always “deduces’ the fourth group.

They have apparently reprogrammed the Wordle bot. My regular move when my first word draws a blank has been demoted from a 99 to a 72. No explanation.

Also—if you were right, the game would not require you to “submit” the fourth group. You’d be declared a winner as soon as you correctly submitted the third group.

R483 and r487, I was merely pointing out the actual nature of the game. R483 addresses one's character, it seems; and you, r487, point out a flaw in the game! To preclude your eventuality, the game should have 17 terms, not sixteen. THEN the player would still need to figure out Row 4 to win!

I am very competitive with it, and try my best to figure out Row 4. But sometimes at 12:10 a.m. I just succumb to the temptation of knowledge, like Eve!

It’s only a “flaw” in the game if you stubbornly insist that the game consists of only figuring out which words comprise the four groups without actually making the connections. That interpretation defeats the entire purpose of the game which is “Connections” not “Sorting into Groups”

It’s rather silly to interpret the game as fundamentally flawed rather than accept that you have misunderstood the challenge.

I think your competitive nature has encouraged you to make the game less challenging so you can declare yourself a winner more often. That’s really kind of sad.

Where’s the autism troll when you need ‘em?

I was doing an archived crossword with the clue “like many a purple-tinged moorland” and my brain decided a purple-tinged moorland was a species of bird which caused much trouble.

The answer was “heathery.”

R489, How can one put 4 correct terms together WITHOUT "actually making the connections"? By dumb luck?

The argument is over whether you automatically win by solving three connections (which gives you the components of the fourth by process of elimination), or do you actually have to figure out the fourth connection?

The game puts the final four together for you, not dumb luck.

R489, If you try to tell me/us that you actually figured out the Blue "Connections" category today, 4/14, I'm preemptively calling you a....Fibber McGee.

Yes, that's my point, r493. The GAME does not require that the player figures out Group #4. PRIDE or SELF-RESPECT, the idea of being CRICKET, however, might, which notion is, apparently, r489's argument to the sad extent of an ad hominem attack.

I did not figure it out. Hence, I did not “win” the game.

I hate connections like that.

As for “ad hominem,” I was only repeating your own characterization of yourself. Sorry if you find that insulting.

The flashback quiz today with props to Harvard

The other day I made a correct connection between the four words that made up the purple group.

It was the second group I put together, so I wasn't even at the end of the game.

But the connection I made had nothing to do with the connection that the game made.

Can’t believing they aren’t allowing raping as a word in Spelling Bee.

That would FORCE rape victims to type out a triggering word in order to become Queen Bee. What kind of a monster would do that?

Today’s Connections was terrible. Even after it was revealed, it made no sense to me.

R502 I got it - just barely - but think the one's like the purple 'connection' in today's are rather stoopid. It's like those groan-worthy categories on Jeopardy!

I found it easy today. I got blue first. Purple was sort of silly.

R504 Funny. Because I got yellow immediately, but then struggled with blue. Then, green came quick. leaving leftover purple, which I did figure out while RME.

I got the other three color groups, but even after reading the so-called "Connection" for the leftover purple group today, I still have absolutely no idea what they're getting at.

SPOILER ALERT

you don’t get that the first syllable of each ( kid, mock , razz and rib) all mean “tease?”

On behalf of my sistren I would like to register my complaint that neither womin nor womon was accepted as a word by spelling bee today.

R507 I understand it now that way that you've written the explanation (thank you), but not the way they did.