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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Need help with Connections #224? This puzzle was published Sunday, January 21, 2024. Start with the spoiler-safe hints below, then open the answer sections when you’re ready. The confirmed groups are RIP OFF, THINGS MADE OF WAX, PARTS OF AN AIRPLANE, and UNITS OF VEGETABLES.
Progressive hints for Connections #224
These clues move from a nudge toward the category names. The first set is adapted from WordHint; the broader descriptions that follow are reported by Parade. Neither set is presented as an official NYT clue.
Gentle hints
- Yellow: Imitation or inspiration?
- Green: Melting memories unveiled.
- Blue: Wings and engines matter.
- Purple: Farm-to-table portions.
Clearer category clues
- One group means to swindle or deceive.
- One group shares a material.
- One group is related to a mode of transportation.
- One group concerns ways to measure certain healthy foods.
How to think through the trickier words
The puzzle’s word bank is BULB, CABIN, CANDLE, CRAYON, EAR, ENGINE, FLEECE, HEAD, HONEYCOMB, HOSE, NOSE, ROB, SEAL, STALK, STIFF, and WING. Several words can point in more than one direction: head, nose, and ear can suggest body parts, while wing may initially seem to complete that set. Instead, cabin, engine, nose, and wing belong together as airplane parts.
Another trap is taking every word literally. Fleece, hose, rob, and stiff form a group through meanings connected to swindling, deceiving, or overcharging; the words have other meanings too. For the vegetable group, bulb, ear, head, and stalk are forms or units used for vegetables, not body parts.
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Connections #224 answers
Spoilers below: the category titles and complete answer grid are revealed here.
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | RIP OFF | FLEECE, HOSE, ROB, STIFF |
| Green | THINGS MADE OF WAX | CANDLE, CRAYON, HONEYCOMB, SEAL |
| Blue | PARTS OF AN AIRPLANE | CABIN, ENGINE, NOSE, WING |
| Purple | UNITS OF VEGETABLES | BULB, EAR, HEAD, STALK |
Why these groups fit
Yellow: RIP OFF
Fleece, hose, rob, and stiff can all describe swindling, cheating, or overcharging someone. Their other familiar meanings make this set less obvious when scanning the words without a category in mind.
Green: THINGS MADE OF WAX
Candle, crayon, honeycomb, and seal are grouped by wax. Honeycomb is made by bees from beeswax, and a seal can refer to a wax seal.
Blue: PARTS OF AN AIRPLANE
Cabin, engine, nose, and wing are airplane parts. The body-part interpretation of nose is a decoy; cabin and engine help establish the transportation theme.
Purple: UNITS OF VEGETABLES
Bulb, ear, head, and stalk name forms or units associated with vegetables—for example, a bulb of garlic, an ear of corn, a head of lettuce, and a stalk of celery.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What Connections is—and the puzzle’s reported rating
The New York Times Help Center describes Connections as a daily game in which players sort 16 words into four groups of four that share a theme. The game’s color order runs from yellow, the easiest, to purple, the trickiest, and words may appear to fit more than one category. NYT says editors curate the words and categories using Oxford Dictionary. See the NYT Connections Help Center for current game details.
Tom’s Guide reported a 4.0-out-of-5 rating for puzzle #224 from Connections Companion. That is Tom’s Guide’s report of the Companion rating, not a rating independently verified here as NYT data. Its author, Alexis James, described being drawn toward a body-part grouping, writing: “Convinced that the first category I was looking for must have something to do with the human body, it says a lot about my subconscious that I opted to combine Head, Nose, and Ear with… Wing.”
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