‘Connections’ March 14: Hints and Answers for Puzzle #642

Connections quickly became an online hit after it was released by The New York Times in June 2023—and, today, it remains as popular as ever.

Wyna Liu, a puzzle editor at The New York Times who developed Connections, said her first brainteaser published by the newspaper was on February 15, 2019.

“It was the first puzzle I constructed on my own, a themeless seeded with CRAZY RICH ASIANS and CATFISHES,” Liu said.

She added that she “became curious about making puzzles as I got more into solving them.”

“Patrick Berry’s excellent book on constructing introduced me to the foundations of the process, but it would be several more years before I’d try making one in earnest.”

In an interview with Newsweek following Connections‘ success, Liu reflected on the game’s popularity.

“The response has been really incredible and overwhelming, and unexpected,” she told Newsweek. “It’s exciting that something I care very deeply about is resonating with people.”

The answers for today’s Connections brainteaser will be revealed at the end of this article, so please scroll with caution if you want to work them out yourself.

How To Play ‘Connections’

Players are instructed to separate 16 words into four categories based on, well, a common connection. Each of the four categories is labeled with a color, which also indicates the difficulty level. Yellow is the easiest category, followed by green, blue, and then purple.

For example, Thursday’s game linked the words “flag,” “hail,” “wave” and “whistle” under the green category, “Signal down, as a taxi.”

As for the purple category, it was “Shakespearean words,” and the terms associated with it were, “anon,” “art,” “thou” and “wilt.”

Luckily, there is no time limit to the game, but players get only four tries before the answers will be revealed, so Liu advised Newsweek readers it is best not to “rage solve.”

‘Connections’ #642 Hints and Clues for Fiday, March 14

Below are Newsweek‘s hints to help you with Friday’s game:

Yellow: Enforce punishment

Green: Spur-of-the-moment buys

Blue: Movie lengths

Purple: Words before “Road”

‘Connections’ #642 Answers for Friday, March 14

Yellow Category: IMPOSE, AS A PENALTY

Yellow Words: Assess, Charge, Fine, Levy

Green Category: CHECKOUT-LINE IMPULSE BUYS

Green Words: Candy, ChapStick, Charging Cable, Magazine

Blue Category: MOVIES OF VARIOUS LENGTHS

Blue Words: Epic, Feature, Film Series, Short

Purple Category: ___ ROAD

Purple Words: Dirt, High, Rocky, Silk

Tremendous job if you cracked today’s Connections game! Good try, though, if not. You will get another chance on Saturday when a new game will be available for you to play.

Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone, so be sure to check back with Newsweek daily for more hints, clues and answers.

Looking for ways to pass the time until the next Wordle drops? Now is a good time to try these other popular word-based games.