NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, March 29 (game #657)

2 days ago 5

NYT Connections homescreen on a phone, on a purple background

(Image credit: New York Times)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, March 28 (game #656).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #657) - today's words

NYT Connections hints for game 657 on a purple background

Today's NYT Connections words are…

SILVER
BIKE
BOXER
PANAMA
BERMUDA
CLUE
MAN
COMMANDO
CRYSTAL
BRAZIL
WITNESS
CHINA
PLAN
CARGO
LINEN
CANAL

NYT Connections today (game #657) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

YELLOW: Upper class table setting
GREEN: Varieties of summer clothing
BLUE: A legendary play on words
PURPLE: Big screen hits of the 1980s

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #657) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

YELLOW: MATERIALS ASSOCIATED WITH FANCY DINING
GREEN: KINDS OF SHORTS
BLUE: NOUNS IN A FAMOUS PALINDROME
PURPLE: MOVIES FROM 1985

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #657) - the answers

NYT Connections answers for game 657 on a purple background

The answers to today's Connections, game #657, are…

YELLOW: MATERIALS ASSOCIATED WITH FANCY DINING CHINA, CRYSTAL, LINEN, SILVER
GREEN: KINDS OF SHORTS BERMUDA, BIKE, BOXER, CARGO
BLUE: NOUNS IN A FAMOUS PALINDROME CANAL, MAN, PANAMA, PLAN
PURPLE: MOVIES FROM 1985 BRAZIL, CLUE, COMMANDO, WITNESS

My rating: Moderate
My score: 1 mistake

I muddled through today with just one mistake. That came when I put LINEN instead of CARGO (which I consider a full leg-length garment) in KINDS OF SHORTS.

The rest I got away with despite not really knowing what I was doing — CHINA, CRYSTAL, LINEN, and SILVER as they were all expensive materials; CANAL, MAN, PANAMA, and PLAN because they all had “an” in them.

The famous palindrome in question ( a man, a plan, a canal — Panama!) was coined in a 1948 edition of Notes & Queries magazine, although that is under dispute as some Googling reveals.

In the 1980s other items were added by wordsmiths, including a cat, a ham, a yak, a yam and a hat. Next, a computer programmer came up with a version with 243 words. But then, putting the seal on any future revisions, computer scientist Peter Norvig created his definitive 2,473 word Panama palindrome. I can only imagine the crushing sense of disappointment when he went over 2,002 words.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, 28 March, game #656)

YELLOW: HURL CHUCK, PELT, PITCH, SLING
GREEN: BE ON BOTH SIDES OF BOOKEND, BRACKET, FLANK, SURROUND
BLUE: PARTS OF A CLASSIC GIRL SCOUT UNIFORM BADGE, BERET, SASH, SKIRT
PURPLE: __HALL BINGO, CITY, MONTY, STUDY

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Johnny is a freelance pop culture journalist who has been writing about the internet, music, football and famous people since the iPhone was just a twinkle in Steve Jobs' eye. Previously known by the pseudonym the Pop Detective, his journalistic career began making up stories about Madonna's addiction to sausage rolls (this is not true by the way). A man of few talents, his career is rich and various and includes the highs of interviewing Elton John and Blur; and the lows of interviewing Right Said Fred, appearing on a Channel 5 documentary about Peter Kay, and fact-checking the instruction manual for a German cooker. Somehow still affording to live in North London he is at his happiest riding his bicycle and shouting at pigeons.

Read Entire Article