It is book day.
The NYT Connections puzzle from May 27 (#1081) leans heavily into the literary aesthetic. At least one group does.
There’s a bot now for Connections, same as Wordle. It grades you. If you register with the Games section, it tracks your wins, your perfect scores, and that little win streak you’re desperate to extend. Nerd out all you want.
The purple group honors a beloved classic.
Here’s the breakdown.
The easy wins
Yellow is straightforward. Commune, Hamlet, Township, Village.
Just small places. Like Bedford Falls. Nothing to trip over.
Green is Classic Board Games. Battleship, Operation, Othello, Trouble.
You roll dice, you move tokens. Childhood nostalgia.
Where it gets tricky
Blue is Homophones of ways of looking.
Aye (eye), Lear (leer), Pier (peer), Stair (stare).
Mix the letters and it clicks.
Purple is the catch. The prompt points to “Marmee’s girls.” You might think you know the Little Women endings.
Jo. Meg. Amy. Beth.
The answer is actually words ending in their names.
Banjo (Jo). Nutmeg (Meg). Macbeth (Beth). Monogamy (Amy).
It’s not about who they married. It’s phonetic wordplay. A cruel twist? Maybe. Just clever.
History of hard puzzles
Some grids have been brutal. Keep these in mind when the fog rolls in.
The #1 puzzle remains the hardest. Can a candidate run? Sure. So can your mascara.
Who’s winning today?
