The New York Times’ Connections puzzle for Thursday, November 5, is game #1243. Players must sort 16 words into four groups of four based on a shared connection. The game allows up to four mistakes, and its color-coded groups range from easier to more difficult.
Hints for today’s categories are boot types, things pretty in bloom, a shared shape and alcohol with altered names. The answers are KINDS OF HEELS, FLOWERS, TEARDROP-SHAPED THINGS and LIQUORS WITH LAST LETTERS CHANGED.
The groups are KITTEN, PLATFORM, SPIKE and WEDGE for kinds of heels; ANEMONE, LOTUS, NARCISSUS and ROSE for flowers; PEAR, RAINDROP, SPEEDBAG and UVULA for teardrop-shaped things; and BRANDO, GIG, RUN and WHISKER for liquors with their last letters changed.
The puzzle’s author rated it hard and finished with two mistakes. Kinds of heels came together quickly, but identifying the flower group took three guesses. The teardrop-shaped category proved especially challenging, with UVULA and SPEEDBAG among the less familiar clues.
Connections is a free word game available on the New York Times Games website for desktop and mobile. Its goal is to find four sets of words that share a connection, with the final group often solvable through elimination.
Sources: TechRadar.