The New York Times’ Connections puzzle for December 7th (#910) presented a moderate challenge, requiring familiarity with niche vocabulary. Players can now track their performance with the Times’ new Connections Bot, which provides numeric scores and personalized analytics. This addition caters to dedicated players who enjoy quantifying their success and tracking progress within the Times Games ecosystem.
Today’s Groups: A Breakdown
The puzzle featured four categories, ranging from relatively straightforward to obscure. Here’s a breakdown of the groupings and their solutions:
- Yellow Group: The theme centered around moving at high speed. The words were barrel, bolt, hurtle, and tear.
- Green Group: The category focused on organ meats: gizzard, heart, tongue, and tripe.
- Blue Group: The terms revolved around woodworking joints: dado, dovetail, mitre, and mortise.
- Purple Group: The most challenging grouping involved completing the phrase “el ____” in Spanish. The answers were El Capitan, El Dorado, El Greco, and El Paso.
Challenging Puzzles from the Past
The Connections format often relies on unexpected connections, sometimes frustrating players. Previous puzzles have highlighted this:
- Puzzle #5 tested knowledge of “things you can set” (mood, record, table, volleyball).
- Puzzle #4 required recognizing common phrases where “one in a dozen” fits (egg, juror, month, rose).
- Puzzle #3 featured “streets on screen” (Elm, Fear, Jump, Sesame).
- Puzzle #2 centered around “power ___” (nap, plant, Ranger, trip).
- Puzzle #1 asked players to identify “things that can run” (candidate, faucet, mascara, nose).
The game’s difficulty suggests that the NYT Connections team deliberately includes obscure categories to increase engagement and encourage discussion among players. The addition of performance tracking via the Connections Bot reinforces this trend, turning the puzzle into a competitive, quantifiable experience.
