Hints Matter for Today's Purple and Blue Connections Categories for July 9, #394
The purple Connections category is always tricky, but today, the blue group is right up there.
![New York Times Connections word game](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/d04b3243819b9e328f87824f2a3f5bb51d23485e/hub/2024/04/30/282b7b89-3051-4814-b77e-ecfb306a77fe/word-games-connections-ny-times-9472.jpg?auto=webp&fit=crop&height=675&width=1200)
In search of today's Connections answers? You've found them.
The purple category in the New York Times Connections game is supposed to be the toughest each day, with the blue group almost as hard. Today, both of those categories stumped me. Blue pulled one of those "take one letter away from a themed group" brain-teasers, and purple tried one of those "which word can pair with all four of these words" challenges. I did poorly on both, but you can do better with our answers. Scroll down for hints so you won't break your streak.
If your day isn't complete without a round of puzzles, check CNET every day -- we post answers and hints for Wordle, Connections and Strands. Here's today's Wordle answer, and here's the one for Strands.
Read more: NYT Connections Could Be the New Wordle: Our Hints and Tips
Hints for today's Connections groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest, yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Write down.
Green group hint: Tresses.
Blue group hint: Singular shows.
Purple group hint: Phrase beginning with a word for a boundary made of bushes.
Answers for today's Connections groups
Yellow group: Chronicle.
Green group: Mess of hair.
Blue group: TV shows minus "S."
Purple group: Words after "hedge."
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today's Connections answers?
The yellow words in today's Connections
The theme is chronicle. The four answers are journal, log, record and register.
The green words in today's Connections
The theme is mess of hair. The four answers are mane, mop, shock and tangle.
The blue words in today's Connections
The theme is TV shows minus "S." The four answers are cheer, friend, scrub and weed.
The purple words in today's Connections
The theme is words after "hedge." The four answers are fund, hog, maze and trimmer.
How to play Connections
Playing is easy. Winning is hard. Look at the 16 words and mentally assign them to related groups of four. Click on the four words you think go together. The groups are coded by color, though you don't know what goes where until you see the answers. The yellow group is the easiest, then green, then blue, and purple is the toughest. Look at the words carefully, and think about related terms. Sometimes the connection has to do with just a part of the word. Once, four words were grouped because each started with the name of a rock band, including "Rushmore" and "Journeyman."