Connections Hints

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Words from the NYT Connections puzzle — December 30, 2023

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Show the word gridAll 16 words — you figure out the groups
Show the themesCategory names only, no words revealed
One word per groupTheme name + one word per category
Full solutionAll words and explanations
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Word grid

All 16 words, sorted alphabetically. Group them into four categories of four.

BASS
BEAR
CHAIN
DESERT
DOVE
ORCA
PANDA
SAND
SERIES
SKUNK
SPEED
STRING
TOURIST
TRAIN
WIND
ZEBRA
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Themes

The four category names, easiest to hardest. No words revealed yet.

BLACK-AND-WHITE ANIMALSStraightforward
SEQUENCEModerate
HETERONYMSTricky
___ TRAPDevious
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One word per group

Theme name plus one word from each category.

BLACK-AND-WHITE ANIMALSStraightforward
ANIMALS THAT WEAR NATURE'S TUXEDO+ 3 more…
SEQUENCEModerate
WORDS MEANING A CONNECTED LINE OR ORDER OF THINGS+ 3 more…
HETERONYMSTricky
WORDS THAT ARE SPELLED THE SAME BUT PRONOUNCED DIFFERENTLY DEPENDING ON MEANING+ 3 more…
___ TRAPDevious
WORDS THAT PRECEDE 'TRAP'+ 3 more…
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Full solution
BLACK-AND-WHITE ANIMALSStraightforward
ORCA,PANDA,SKUNK,ZEBRA

ORCA, PANDA, SKUNK, and ZEBRA are all animals naturally colored in black and white.

SEQUENCEModerate
CHAIN,SERIES,STRING,TRAIN

CHAIN, SERIES, STRING, and TRAIN all mean a sequence or succession of connected items or events.

HETERONYMSTricky
BASS,DOVE,DESERT,WIND

BASS, DOVE, DESERT, and WIND are heteronyms — words with the same spelling but different pronunciations and meanings (e.g., bass the fish vs. bass the sound; wind the breeze vs. wind the coil).

___ TRAPDevious
BEAR,SAND,SPEED,TOURIST

BEAR, SAND, SPEED, and TOURIST can all precede TRAP to form compound words or phrases: bear trap, sand trap, speed trap, tourist trap.

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