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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →These are the archived hints and answers for NYT Connections game #546, published Sunday, December 8, 2024—not today’s current puzzle. Start with the spoiler-light clues below, then open the answer groups when you’re ready.
Hints for Connections #546
The puzzle asks you to sort 16 tiles into four groups of four. The hints below are the category clues published for this game; they do not reveal the full answers.
- Yellow: “So you wanna be a boxer?”
- Green: “No space left”
- Blue: “Branded creatures”
- Purple: “Sounds like sounds”
Answers for December 8, 2024
Spoilers: The category names and their four tiles are listed below.
Yellow — PUNCH
BELT, BLOW, SLUG, SOCK
Green — CRAM
SANDWICH, SHOEHORN, SQUEEZE, WEDGE
Blue — COMPANIES NAMED AFTER ANIMALS
CATERPILLAR, DOVE, GREYHOUND, PUMA
Purple — HOMOPHONES OF MUSIC GENRES
INDY, METTLE, SEOUL, WRAP
The purple set relies on sound-alikes: INDY/indie, METTLE/metal, SEOUL/soul, and WRAP/rap.
How to approach the trickiest connection
The purple group is easier to see aloud than on the page: each tile sounds like a music genre. For other groups, test whether a proposed theme fits exactly four tiles and still leaves three complete groups. Research on Connections describes how tempting partial associations can mislead solvers; the game’s structure rewards checking the entire set rather than locking in a theme after spotting only a pair.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.About this archived puzzle
TechRadar’s Marc McLaren rated this puzzle “Easy” and “Perfect” and noted that familiarity with Caterpillar boots helped him recognize the animal-named companies group. That is his personal solving account, not a measured difficulty rating.
Rank #2
Connections is a daily word-grouping game from The New York Times. The game format is to arrange 16 terms into four sets of four; the archived guide describes play through NYT Games on desktop or mobile. Access and subscription terms are not established here and may change.
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