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Connections #561 was the puzzle published on Monday, December 23, 2024. Its groups are homophones, clothing necklines, ways to write 1,000, and phrases completed by “Super.” The 16 tiles were BOAT, U, BOWL, M, THOU, CREW, V, YOU, 8, EWE, SCOOP, GLUE, TUESDAY, K, GRAND, and YEW.
If you are still solving, use the spoiler-light clues below before opening the complete answer table.
Clues for Connections #561
Stage 1: broad nudges
- One group is about words that sound identical despite different spellings.
- One group uses fashion vocabulary found around the neck of a shirt.
- One group contains several ways to denote one thousand.
- One group becomes familiar phrases when preceded by the same five-letter word meaning excellent.
Stage 2: category-level hints
- Think pronunciation rather than meaning.
- Look for four kinds of necklines.
- Mix a written word with abbreviations and a letter-based notation for 1,000.
- The shared starter is “Super.”
Stage 3: stronger hints
- The sound-alike set includes a pronoun, a letter, a bird-related word and a tree-related spelling.
- The neckline set includes boat, crew, scoop and V.
- The 1,000 set includes “grand,” “K,” “M” and an old-fashioned word.
- The “Super” set includes a number, a sports event, an adhesive and a political primary day.
The complete answers
| Color | Category | Tiles | Why they fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Homophones | EWE, U, YEW, YOU | All four are pronounced like “you,” although their spellings and meanings differ. |
| Green | Necklines | BOAT, CREW, SCOOP, V | They form boat neck, crew neck, scoop neck and V-neck. |
| Blue | Ways to express 1,000 | GRAND, K, M, THOU | “Grand” and “thou” are words for one thousand; K and M are common shorthand or notation used for 1,000. |
| Purple | Super _____ | 8, BOWL, GLUE, TUESDAY | They make Super 8, Super Bowl, superglue and Super Tuesday. |
How the wordplay works
Yellow: four spellings of the same sound
EWE, U, YEW and YOU are a classic homophone group. “Ewe” is a female sheep, “U” is the name of a letter, “yew” is a tree, and “you” is the second-person pronoun. Their meanings are unrelated, but they share pronunciation.
Green: neckline terminology
Each green tile describes the shape or style of a garment opening: a boat neck is wide and often nearly horizontal, a crew neck is a close-fitting round neck, a scoop neck is rounded and lower, and a V-neck forms a V shape.
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Blue: notation for one thousand
“Grand” is common in money and general counting. “K” is widely used as a thousand abbreviation, while “M” can represent 1,000 in some traditional or context-specific notation. “Thou” is an older word meaning one thousand. The intended connection is the number, not a single formatting convention.
Purple: compounds beginning with Super
Super 8 is a film format and also a brand name, the Super Bowl is the major American football championship, superglue is a strong adhesive, and Super Tuesday is a major United States presidential primary date.
Board and puzzle date
This is historical puzzle #561, dated Monday, December 23, 2024. It should not be confused with a December 23 puzzle from another year. The board contains exactly the 16 tiles listed at the start of this article.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Playing the puzzle and finding older editions
The New York Times offers Connections through NYTimes.com and its Games, News and Athletic apps. The official Help Center says the daily game is released at midnight in your local time zone. Eligible subscribers can use the Connections archive, which reaches back to June 12, 2023.
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