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Connections puzzle #538, from Saturday, November 30, 2024, groups its 16 words into dance styles, words meaning “steal,” ways to say someone did very well, and baseball pitches that end in “ball.” Category hints come first; the complete answer key is below a spoiler warning.
Hints for Connections #538
Try these category clues before looking at the answers:
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- One group consists of dance forms.
- One group contains words that can mean “steal.”
- One group describes doing very well at a task or performance.
- For the final group, add the same word after each item to name a type of pitch.
Spoiler: the full answers
The four groups for November 30, 2024, are:
- Yellow — Dance styles: JAZZ, MODERN, SWING, TAP
- Green — Steal: LIFT, PALM, POCKET, SWIPE
- Blue — Perform well on: ACE, CRUSH, NAIL, ROCK
- Purple — ___ball pitches: CURVE, FAST, KNUCKLE, SCREW
Why the words fit
Dance styles
JAZZ, MODERN, SWING, and TAP are all dance styles. Keep JAZZ and MODERN together as dances rather than grouping them with words that suggest music; ROCK and SWING belong to different answer groups.
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Words meaning “steal”
LIFT, PALM, POCKET, and SWIPE can each mean to take something dishonestly. The link is a shared sense, not a single part of speech or phrase pattern.
#1 Best Overall
Ways to say “perform well”
ACE, CRUSH, NAIL, and ROCK can all describe doing very well at something—for example, acing or nailing a task. This group is built around similar meanings.
___ball pitches
Put “ball” after each word: curveball, fastball, knuckleball, and screwball. This phrase-completion pattern identifies CURVE, FAST, KNUCKLE, and SCREW.
Rank #2
What makes this puzzle tricky
Some words invite plausible associations across categories. JAZZ and MODERN may bring music to mind, while ROCK and SWING can reinforce that distraction. The answer key separates those associations: JAZZ and MODERN join TAP and SWING as dance styles, while ROCK is in the “perform well on” group and SWING is in the dance group. The final four are easier to confirm once you test the shared “ball” ending.
Forbes and TechRadar published matching category labels and word sets for this archived puzzle. The answers above reflect their corroborated key.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Rank #3
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