Today’s Connections Answer: Dec. 21 hints

Trying to find the connections in a game of Connections might be tricky depending on how much the categories of a certain day differ from our vocabulary. If you need a nod in the right direction to figure out the answers, you have come to the right place.

The New York Times launched Connections in mid-2023, and the game has quickly gained popularity as a daily activity. Each day, the game presents sixteen different words in a 4×4 grid. Your goal is to find the eponymous connections between them. They are split into four categories, but you don’t know which categories these are when you start playing; you must look at all the words and try to deduce yourself.

To guess, simply select the four words you think are grouped together and click the Submit button. Doing so, you get feedback from the game on whether it was a correct guess or it cost you a “life.” You have a maximum of three mistakes to make each day, and making a fourth mistake means you lose.

With a correct guess, the selected words are removed from the “pool” and grouped together to reveal the name of their category. The four categories are color-coded in yellow, green, blue, and purple, where yellow is traditionally the most straightforward and purple is the trickiest.

Keep reading to find a few hints, the categories, and the answers for today’s Connections. Each of them is split in a different section, so as to not spoil the answers unintentionally.

Hints for today’s Connections (Dec. 21)

A few hints for today’s categories of Connections (#559) are:

• 🟨 Yellow group: it goes round and round and round again and again (or maybe just once)
• 🟩 Green group: things you use in the kitchen oven to prepare your meals
• 🟦 Blue group: different variations of the surface you sleep on
• 🟪 Purple group: these four items can be called by the same name

We don’t want to make it too simple or obvious at first for those who only need a nod in the right direction. But if those still don’t ring a bell, you might need the actual names of each category.

That is where the next section comes in. Keep reading to learn more.

Today’s Connections categories (Dec. 21)

The categories that connect today’s words in Connections (#559) are:

• 🟨 Yellow group: loop
• 🟩 Green group: cooking vessels
• 🟦 Blue group: kinds of beds
• 🟪 Purple group: things called “Oscar”

Knowing the categories might give away most or all the answers, but we know that sometimes it can still be tricky to figure out which ones go where.

If you’re still unsure and don’t have any more room for mistakes, check out the actual answers for each category below.

Today’s Connections answers (Dec. 21)

The answers to today’s Connections puzzle (#559) are:

• 🟨 Loop: BAND, CIRCLE, HOOP, RING
• 🟩 Cooking vessels: CASSEROLE, CROCK, PAN, POT
• 🟦 Kinds of beds: BUNK, CANOPY, MURPHY, SLEIGH
• 🟪 Things called “Oscar”: BALONEY, GROUCH, O, STATUETTE

Past Connections answers

Dec. 20 (#558)

• 🟨 Concoction: COCKTAIL, COMPOUND, MIXTURE, SOLUTION
• 🟩 Types of sentences: COMMAND, EXCLAMATION, QUESTION, STATEMENT
• 🟦 Kinds of bros: CRYPTO, FINANCE, PHARMA, TECH
• 🟪 Complaint homophones: GROWN, MOWN, WHALE, WINE

Dec. 19 (#557)

• 🟨 Defer: DELAY, POSTPONE, SHELVE, TABLE
• 🟩 Bar fixtures: COUNTER, KEG, STOOL, TAP
• 🟦 Watercraft: BARGE, JUNK, SUB, TUG
• 🟪 Seen in Donkey Kong: BARREL, GORILLA, HAMMER, LADDER

Dec. 18 (#556)

• 🟨 Deal with: FIELD, HANDLE, MANAGE, TACKLE
• 🟩 Styles of beer: BITTER, BOCK, SOUR, STOUT
• 🟦 Investment verbs: HEDGE, HOLD, SHORT, TRADE
• 🟪 ___ dome: CAPITOL, CHROME, ONION, TEAPOT

Dec. 17 (#555)

• 🟨 Intrepidity: GRIT, HEART, NERVE, PLUCK
• 🟩 Road: ARTERY, AVENUE, DRAG, DRIVE
• 🟦 Kinds of paper: CONSTRUCTION, GRAPH, TISSUE, WAX
• 🟪 Kinds of tennis courts: CARPET, CLAY, GRASS, HARD

Dec. 16 (#554)

• 🟨 Types of radio: AM, HAM, SATELLITE, WALKIE-TALKIE
• 🟩 Kinds of play fights: FOOD, PILLOW, SNOWBALL, WATER BALLOON
• 🟦 Snack cakes: DEVIL DOG, DING DONG, HOHO, YODEL
• 🟪 Classic joke staples: BAR, CHICKEN, KNOCK-KNOCK, LIGHT BULB

Dec. 15 (#553)

• 🟨 Spices: CLOVE, MACE, NUTMEG, PEPPER
• 🟩 Perform poorly: FLAIL, FLOP, FLOUNDER, TANK
• 🟦 Skim through, as pages: FLIP, LEAF, RIFFLE, THUMB
• 🟪 Pop singers minus “S”: KEY, MAR, SPEAR, STYLE

Dec. 14 (#552)

• 🟨 Fish: FLUKE, MULLET, SOLE, TANG
• 🟩 Words in an auction-ending phrase: GOING, ONCE, TWICE, SOLD
• 🟦 Global currencies: POUND, REAL, SOL, YUAN
• 🟪 Words before “cup”: BUTTER, DIVA, SOLO, WORLD

Dec. 13 (#551)

• 🟨 Fantasy creatures: DRAGON, GIANT, PIXIE, TROLL
• 🟩 Email folders: DRAFTS, SENT, SPAM, TRASH
• 🟦 Citrus sodas: CRUSH, SPRITE, SQUIRT, STARRY
• 🟪 Animal homophones: BORE, LINKS, PHISH, TOWED

Dec. 12 (#550)

• 🟨 Things that sound like “T”: TEA, TEE (GOLF), TEE (SHIRT), TI (MUSICAL NOTE)
• 🟩 Objects with teeth: COMB, GEAR, SAW, ZIPPER
• 🟦 Mild oaths: FUDGE, GEEZ, NUTS, RATS
• 🟪 Parts of a river: BANK, BED, DELTA, MOUTH

Dec. 11 (#549)

• 🟨 Utopia: PARADISE, SEVENTH HEAVEN, SHANGRI-LA, XANADU
• 🟩 Things you shake: HAIRSPRAY, MAGIC 8 BALL, SALAD DRESSING, SNOWGLOBE
• 🟦 Proper noun portmanteaux: JAZZERCISE, PARALYMPICS, POKÉMON, WIKIPEDIA
• 🟪 Ending in synonyms for “friend”: KETCHUM, PAYPAL, PRIMATE, ROSEBUD

Dec. 10 (#548)

• 🟨 Give a title to: CALL, DUB, LABEL, NAME
• 🟩 Parts of a flight: CRUISE, TAKEOFF, TAXI, TOUCHDOWN
• 🟦 Feel around (for): FISH, FUMBLE, ROOT, RUMMAGE
• 🟪 Countries minus first letter: INLAND, OLIVIA, RAN, WANDA

Dec. 9 (#547)

• 🟨 Deliberation: CONSIDERATION, REFLECTION, SCRUTINY, THOUGHT
• 🟩 Used in starting a fire: FLINT, LIGHTER, MAGNIFYING GLASS, MATCHES
• 🟦 Used to view a biological sample: MICROSCOPE, SLIDE, SPECIMEN, STAIN
• 🟪 Words after “X”: FACTOR, FILES, GAMES, RAY

Dec. 8 (#546)

• 🟨 Punch: BELT, BLOW, SLUG, SOCK
• 🟩 Cram: SANDWICH, SHOEHORN, SQUEEZE, WEDGE
• 🟦 Companies named after animals: CATERPILLAR, DOVE, GREYHOUND, PUMA
• 🟪 Homophones of music genres: INDY, METTLE, SEOUL, WRAP

Dec. 7 (#545)

• 🟨 Think of together: AFFILIATE, ASSOCIATE, EQUATE, RELATE
• 🟩 Ways to attract fish: BAIT, CHUM, FLY, LURE
• 🟦 W.N.B.A. teams: LIBERTY, STORM, SUN, WINGS
• 🟪 Long___: BOW, FELLOW, HORN, LEGS

Dec. 6 (#544)

• 🟨 Baffle: PERPLEX, PUZZLE, STUMP, VEX
• 🟩 Curse: HEX, JINX, POX, SPELL
• 🟦 Toy Story characters, familiarly: BUZZ, HAMM, REX, SLINKY
• 🟪 Colloquial suffixes: CORE, GATE, MANIA, PILLED

Dec. 5 (#543)

• 🟨 Aptitude: FLAIR, GIFT, INSTINCT, NOSE
• 🟩 Exterior: FACE, FRONT, OUTSIDE, SURFACE
• 🟦 Tech companies: AMAZON, APPLE, INTUIT, ORACLE
• 🟪 ___stone: BRIM, LIME, RHINE, YELLOW

Dec. 4 (#542)

• 🟨 Steer: DIRECT, GUIDE, LEAD, SHEPHERD
• 🟩 Things with needle/s: COMPASS, PINE TREE, SEWING KIT, TURNTABLE
• 🟦 Figures in Greek myth: ATALS, ECHO, HELEN, PAN
• 🟪 Starting with synonyms for lavatory: CANDLE, JOHNSON, LOOFAH, TOILETRIES

Dec. 3 (#541)

• 🟨 Sopranos: CARMELA, JUNIOR, MEADOW, TONY
• 🟩 Familial nicknames: CUZ, GRAMMY, MUMMY, POP
• 🟦 Sesame Street characters: COOKIE, COUNT, OSCAR, SNUFFY
• 🟪 Names that sound like two letters: CECE, EDIE, EMMY, KATIE

Dec. 2 (#540)

• 🟨 Announce: BROADCAST, DECLARE, HERALD, TRUMPET
• 🟩 Things involving mallets: CARPENTRY, CROQUET, WHAC-A-MOLE, XYLOPHONE
• 🟦 Icon embroidered on a polo shirt: CROCODILE, LAUREL, POLO PLAYER, SWOOSH
• 🟪 ___ clip: ALLIGATOR, HAIR, PAPER, VIDEO

Dec. 1 (#539)

• 🟨 Sanctuary: HAVEN, PORT, RETREAT, SHELTER
• 🟩 Football gear: CLEATS, HELMET, JERSEY, PADS
• 🟦 Candy names: CHARMS, KINDER, WONKA, YORK
• 🟪 “Free ___”: BIRD, FALLIN’, SOLO, WILLY