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NYT Connections puzzle #207 is the game from January 4, 2024. Its four groups are gift-giving accessories, dating app actions, slang for “cool,” and phrases beginning with “lucky.” Start with the graduated hints below if you want to solve it yourself; the full answer is behind a spoiler warning.
Hints for Connections #207
The New York Times describes Connections as a game about finding themes between words. You get 16 words and must sort them into four groups of four; the categories range from yellow, the easiest, to purple, the trickiest. The game also deliberately uses words that may seem to fit more than one theme, so look for a group of four that shares a precise connection rather than accepting the first plausible overlap. The New York Times Help Center explains the rules.
Light hints
- Yellow: Presents made personal.
- Green: Swipe right for love.
- Blue: Chill or fresh vibe.
- Purple: Spin to win!
These puzzle-specific hints come from WordHint; they are secondary-source clues, not official NYT editorial hints. See the January 4, 2024 puzzle page.
Category-level nudges
- Yellow: Think of things used to present or accompany a present.
- Green: Look for actions you can take in a dating app.
- Blue: The words share a slang meaning, not their literal definitions.
- Purple: Add the same word after each group member to complete a familiar phrase.
Spoilers: the answers
Stop here if you still want to solve the puzzle without seeing the groups.
The word list for #207 is WRAPPING, LIT, SWIPE, SICK, STRIKE, MATCH, MESSAGE, FIRE, CARD, CHARM, DUCK, BOW, BOX, BLOCK, BREAK, and TIGHT. The categories and answers are:
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Gift-giving accessories | BOW, BOX, CARD, WRAPPING |
| Green | Dating app actions | BLOCK, MATCH, MESSAGE, SWIPE |
| Blue | Cool, in slang | FIRE, LIT, SICK, TIGHT |
| Purple | Lucky ___ | BREAK, CHARM, DUCK, STRIKE |
Try Hard Guides independently lists the same date, puzzle number, groupings, and solutions. Check its January 4, 2024 answer page.
Rank #2
Why the trickiest group works
The purple group is built by completing phrases: lucky break, lucky charm, lucky duck, and lucky strike. The words do not form one obvious semantic category on their own; the shared word appears before each one.
The other groups also rely on context. BLOCK, MATCH, MESSAGE, and SWIPE are dating-app actions, even though each word has other everyday meanings. FIRE, LIT, SICK, and TIGHT all work as slang for “cool,” rather than being related by their literal senses. BOW, BOX, CARD, and WRAPPING belong together as gift-giving accessories.
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Connections is available through NYT Games, The Athletic, the Games app, and the News app, according to the NYT Help Center. The same page says the game is free to play without registration and that the full archive back to June 12, 2023 is available to All Access and Games subscribers. Archive play can affect some statistics, but not streaks. Availability and access terms can change, so check the official page for current details.
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