NYT Games Thread - Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee etc

Today’s Wordle is a DL favorite.

I like connections. I wish there was an archive.

For OP

Connections is fairly NYC-centric. IIRC, one game's entry included “super” and the connection was “carries keys” or something like that. Do other regions have supers or building managers in apartment buildings?

No, r4. Outside NYC the tenants clean and maintain apartment buildings themselves. After all, they have nothing better to do.

How bizarre that a New York-based newspaper should be New York-centric.

Have you played Connections, r6?

Sorry, r5, I was unclear. (Nice snark though.) I meant, don’t people refer to those individuals as “building managers,” rather than “supers” (/SOO-puh/).

And yes, r6 it is bizarre that the country's paper of record should be so NYC centric in its GAMES section, from which it derives significant $$$ nationwide.

Wiki:

A building superintendent or building supervisor (often shortened to super) is a term used in the United States and Canada to refer to a manager responsible for repair and maintenance in a residential building. They are the first point of contact for residents of the building.

Although very common in large cities in the United States and Canada, the job title is not often used in the rest of the world. Other common titles for this job include resident manager, apartment manager, and caretaker.

I’m sorry, but I’m pretty sure that hayseed from Indiana, Ann Romano, called Schneider her super.

(Didn’t she? Too lazy to check.)

I love Spelling Bee. I’ve managed to convince my friends I have a brain with three and four syllable words!

They moved to the big city—Indianapolis.

I do too r11. I like the fact that in Spelling Bee there is no "win" or "lose," you just see how many words you can get from the day's letters. Very calming.

There is winning: Genius or Queen Bee

R1, right you are! lol

I love Connections and Strands

Spelling Bee is my favorite. I get a laugh the next day when I see that I found a complicated word like DEACTIVATED and somehow missed some simple four-letter word.

How do you approach Connections? Go through each word carefully, or just skim them all and see what jumps out?

[quote]How do you approach Connections? Go through each word carefully, or just skim them all and see what jumps out?

If I find two that seem to be related, I look for a third before moving on. It helps to remember that the more obvious ones often aren't connections. If the puzzle has LUCKY and CLOVER in it, the solution is usually something like " ____ CHARMS" and "TYPES OF HONEY."

My brain works backwards, so often I find the more obscure connections first and the more obvious ones last.

I'm convinced "Wyna Liu" (the creator) is a Gen Zer somewhere on the spectrum.

As a non-American, I’m pretty proud that I can get through Monday and Tuesday crosswords without googling anything anymore.

College mascots and USA state capitals are now burned into my brain.

For instance, I never knew what the hell a “Bruin” is.

Connections 349 out in Australia, much more straightforward than the previous days.

Connections almost comically simple today

I got Wordle in 4, then the little AI guide told me I was stupid and I feel bad.

The dog themed Connections, I swear to GOD

A today’s connections was HARD. WTF. Makes me feel stupid.

Can anyone explain this analysis from the Wordle bot:

[quote] There was only one possible solution left — and this wasn’t it. (RINKS is a valid guess, but it’s unlikely to be a solution based on what I’ve learned from playing Wordle.) But there’s still only one solution remaining. You should solve the puzzle on your next turn. [I did]

Why is it saying there was “only one possible solution left,” RINKS was a valid guess, but wasn’t it?

What is the difference between a “possible” solution and a “valid” guess?

Wordle doesn’t use words that end with a pluralizing S, r25.

I think the Connections editor is often sly, putting BIG next to KNOCKERS, say.

I didn’t know that. I’d prefer that they reject an S plural entry then, rather than let you enter it when it can’t be correct.

If you highlight “?” The second example they show is “Pills”

I do like the NYT Sudoku. They’re pretty basic.

And Strands is a fun game, I hope it’s added to the app once it’s out of beta.

Ugh, a rebus.

Digits was my favorite. Of blessed memory

I got the Spelling Bee pangram as the first word today. I imagine the lesbians got it even faster.

Seriously, R32. I thought, “Naw, they wouldn’t allow that word. WOULD they?”

Engulfed?

I’m such a gold star gay, I still haven’t got it.

Oh. You’re talking about yesterday’s game.

I made a shameful error in Wordle. The bot was polite about it: “This guess wasn’t my favorite.”

“You moron” would have been more appropriate.

[quote]I got the Spelling Bee pangram as the first word today. I imagine the lesbians got it even faster.

The word was VIBRATOR.

Also vibrato for the musical lesbian

R2, here's an archive:

You can also make your own!

I made a quick Pride edition for you.

Thanks, r41! That was fun.

Adorable work R41!

Thank you r41!

And finally we have a Wordle archive.

The purple was too obscure for this NYer, though I did get the other three.

Spelling Bee tip for lots of points: if you have the letters to spell HEAD, you also can spell AHEAD, HEADED, DEADHEAD, and DEADHEADED.

I can't even get one of the connection at R41. How about a hint or two?

“Pride” is a hint.

Well after a half hour, I'm at 10 incorrect and I play this every day. And "Pride" isn't helpful. At this point it's pissing me off.

The puzzle has one set anyone could get. The others require knowledge of gay trivia which you either know or you don’t. I knew two of the three sets, which was enough to determine the last one, which I did not know, being from the wrong coast.

If you don’t know the info, it will be impossible. It seems you don’t. I suggest you give up.

Spoiler Alert:

The arcane sets are 1) characters in an iconic play; 2) Album titles by an iconic pop star and 3) streets in a gayborhood.

^ You seem bitter and maybe a little salty? r41, The secret to Connections is to find the synonyms first, today's was confusing because there were 2 sets of 4. Start with "strew".

I always assume I'm not going to understand the last 4, as it's often esoteric but you don't need to to win.

I don't enjoy the word games other than Wordle but I do play the geography game Worldle. They show you the outline of a country and you have 6 guesses with mileage and directional hints.

I also play WhenTaken. You are shown 5 photos from all over the world and you guess the location and the year.

I guess I'm just not gay enough.

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Turn in your card.

Apparently, “wank” is not a word.

I just tried spelling bee. I now hate myself.

I tried “wank” too, R56.

I sort of cheat at the NYT puzzles. On the spelling bee there's a place where you can look at user created definitions. It makes it a lot easier, but there's less of a sense on accomplishment when you hit "genius."

I also play the crossword with the checker on, so that it lets you know when you've entered an incorrect letter. Again, this makes even the Saturday puzzle possible for me. But I feel guilty about it.

The Queen Bee is a censorious bitch, afraid of both prudes and the woke.

I guess censorious doesn’t mean what I thought it means. I wanted “censorial.”

Early morning task, complete Connections and Spelling Bee. At times I am quite dense with connections, but with practice I now manage to find all four most days. Not always 4/4, which is my goal. Spelling Bee was enjoyable, until I realized Queen Bee was possible. Now, I must try for it. My rule for myself is that I must get to Genius or beyond on my own. Then I go to Community which has players hints for each word (I don't think that is quite cheating, since I need to think to solve for the words) . Some guy named Steve must get to it at the crack of dawn, because he has all the clues you might need there. A few others also supply them, but his are best and first.

You need not wait till the next day to see the complete list. Go to sbsolver.com and the complete list is there same day.

Bee can be very frustrating, in that certain words are not recognized, although they should be. Also, some words are spelled two different ways.

I think community hints spoil Spelling Bee as they usually give the word away. After I get to genius, I will look at the chart in Spelling Bee Buddy that gives you first letter and word length, but not beyond.

Connections Spoiler alert

Does one really feel “salty”?

Also “feeling some sort of way” is rather vague. The other three words connote angry disappointment or pique. Something went amiss, I think.

I’ve tried my hand at creating one*. Let me know what you think.

*Connections

R64, “feeling some sort of way” is the Times version of jive.

I’m not having much luck, r65. Found the green; 12 errors.

R67, I can give a hint. But I think I should wait a bit. In the meantime, here’s another one.

I liked your R68 better than your R65. I guess I just never heard two of the words with PIECE used that way. This is fun. And sorry, R49. I should have prefaced it with explanation given by R50 that it’s more trivia heavy. I’ve been watching this British trivia show from BBC on YouTube called Pointless. I wish there was a game like that online.

Loved it R64. Thanks! 🟦🟦🟦🟦

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Thanks, R41- that was great!

I made another one for y’all. All 3-Letter words!

Spoiler alert

I did spot 3 terms for fake hair, but “switch” was unknown to me, and “bang” and “shag” seemed like better guesses. About a dozen times.

Also unfamiliar with your use of “dog” (as is my dictionary, and at least the first two pages of entries in The Urban Dictionary) 🤷🏻‍♂️

Just not on my wavelength, I guess.

Thanks R53! I can’t stop playing the WhenTaken archives when I should be finishing yard work!

[quote]Also unfamiliar with your use of “dog”

You've never been raw dogged??

R67, here’s a hint for R65. Think of what you might see at a bar with a name like The Eagle.

I’ve never seen “dogged” alone as a synonym for raw-dogged. Perhaps I need to attend better parties.

Another good one, R72! That was tricky.

I liked r72.

Whoa, r19! That's a famous one! I guess you don't know the Banana Slugs, for sure!

R72, that was awesome. I’m going to try to make better ones.

Here is my take on the Datalounge edition of Connections. Enjoy!

And mine!

I mean, and mine!

Just one more. I promise. Another Datalounge-themed one.

My students alerted me to Strands, which is beta. I play it like the others but I find it annoying.

Yes—Strands is not fun.

The puzzle at r85 made me laugh. A tip o' the wig to you!

I'm still a fan of Scrabble.

Apparently, bibliological is not a word.

Apparently, “gabbagool” is not a word?

Fuck that.

The one at R84 was diabolical, but in a good way!

Never seen a clue fit into three groups. Not sure it’s kosher.

Thank you, r92!

I tried to lay some traps about our DL faves.

Today’s Connections was for the slower children.

I got green last on connections today. Make of that what you will.

I agree that Tuesday’s Connections was one of the easiest ever.

Almost missed today's Wordle—my first two entries yielded zero letters.

Whew today. Took me six.

I'm not even going to try to get oday's Connections

I’m with you, R100.

WTF?

It was pretty easy once you ignored the obvious.

The movie one?

Yes, the movie one

IR102 is correct. I take back what I said at R100

I got the blue and purple ones today first, but then I didn’t know where all the movies had taken place so I lost.

You don’t need to know anything about the movies.

Yes today's connections looks intimidating but it's pretty easy. I didn't know DUMBO so that was my last one.

Today’s Connections is pissing me off.

Really, R109? It took me two minutes to complete it when other days it might take me 30 minutes or more to finish. However, I didn’t solve the movies version at all, so it can be hit or miss.

It’s a case of cultural misunderstanding not being American. For me, the baseball and the pencil references meant nothing.

^r109

[quote] For me, the baseball and the pencil references meant nothing.

If you solve the other three categories first, then you don’t need to understand what the last four words mean or how they are connected.

That’s cheating. It’s not really solved until you figure out the final connection.

I sometimes don't understand the logic used in Spelling Bee. Often there are obscure foreign words that are acceptable (like today) and other common ones aren't.

They don’t accept words that might be offensive (like ‘twat”) or that are proper nouns unless, like one today, they have acquired an independent meaning. They exclude words they consider “obscure” (which is arbitrary) or foreign unless they are accepted in their dictionary as absorbed into English like an honorary title accepted today.

There is no justification for hatha which does not exist as an English word without yoga. I think Sam must be a practitioner.

What bugs me the most is when they change their minds on words. Happens a lot.

R116, and what about haka?

Haka is an English word.

How is a traditional Maori war dance with singing an English word?

How is teepee or igloo an English word?

My second Connections

Hundreds of comments complained about the omission of “abattoir” (slaughterhouse) a week or so ago. But the arbitrariness I guess is part of the game.

Oh, and by the way r114, missing the final connection is cheating only in your own mind. That’s the way the game is structured, to get the last line when you’ve figured out the first three.

Dino was a baby 'dino'saur not a dog R122

Ok, honey, if you like to think you’ve succeeded in solving Connections without figuring out the hardest one, you just go ahead and call yourself a champion.

I often get the blue and purple ones first, so I don’t think the last category is necessarily the “hardest”. However, clicking on the last four items to end the game is like putting the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle in place. You don’t need to think about why it fits in the last open space. It just does. Put it in its place and move on.

It’s the one you haven’t solved. That makes it the hardest for you.

Face it—you are calling 3/4 of a solve good enough. If that works for you, great.

He was a dog to me 🐶

I don’t understand the Connections controversy. Even if you know all four connections, one group HAS to be the last you enter.

You really don’t even know what they consider the hardest until the color pops up when you get it right.

The issue is do you “win” after getting three groups without figuring out what the connection is for the fourth group.

[quote] Even if you know all four connections, one group HAS to be the last you enter.

Yes, clicking on the last four items before you have used all of the tries, with or without knowing their category, does win the game. Seeing how upset that makes r125/r127 is just a bonus.

Why would you even play the game if you’d rather declare yourself a winner without completing it?

They have accepted “viand” in the past. Not today.

Noted r133. Tried it and no dice today.

In solving Connections today I realized why r125 is wrong in thinking you have to work WHY the last four connect to declare yourself a winner: how many times have you solved a line of the puzzle even though your reasoning differs from the revealed answer? This happens to me all the time.

So you don’t even need to try?

If I stumble into the correct answer for the wrong reason, I don’t consider that a “win” in Connections. Of course there are times when my description is close enough to theirs to count, but if I’m not even close, it’s a “loss.”

[quote] If I stumble into the correct answer for the wrong reason, I don’t consider that a “win” in Connections.

That’s because you’re a loon.

There’s no clock. There’s no streak. The game is designed to reveal the final group every time. What purpose is there to playing Connections other than getting the connections?

I guess some people have so little “winning” in their lives that they’ll take a “victory” they don’t earn even when playing by themselves. Sad.

And I guess that some other people have so little winning in their lives that they concern themselves with how total strangers… oh, never mind.

The whole purpose of Datalounge is talking to strangers Try again.

Today’s crossword has a Connections theme.

Movie characters Connections.

This one was fun to make.

This was was inspired by OP (at R144).

R125,The point is, as you know, that the 4th Connection is already, per the game, "figured out." Of course, it is more satisfying to do that before hitting "submit," but the game itself doesn't require it.

I think that is a fatal flaw in the game. Add a fifth row in order to scatter 4 completely irrelevant words as red herrings. That would separate the Sherlocks from the Watsons!

We know by now the current tricks: What word often precedes/follows? How many associations does one word have?/Do any fit another word? What are the various grammatical forms/uses (noun, verb, adjective, etc.)?

I think "Connections" is easier than "Wordle," and I got the latter in 2 today!

Is it a “fatal flaw’ in the game or are you playing it wrong? Hmmm. Let me think.

[quote] I think that is a fatal flaw in the game. Add a fifth row in order to scatter 4 completely irrelevant words as red herrings.

I thought the same thing about adding extra words. The way it is now, the point of the game is to categorize three sets and the fourth has no relevance.

It seems those recent contributions require you to be familiar with the plot of all the included films. I’m out.

[quote] The way it is now, the point of the game is to categorize three sets and the fourth has no relevance.

Or, you’ve completed missed the “point of the game.” Hmmm. Let me think.

R147, Reading comprehension much? What do you think I meant by "I find 'Connections' easier than 'Wordle'"?

Because I solve "Connections" in a trice! Zero errors for today's #372, FYI.

Finding the connection among the last four is often the most challenging part of the game. Of course you find the game easy if you skip over the hardest part.

[quote] Or, you’ve completed missed the “point of the game.” Hmmm. Let me think.

Like the fourth category, you’ve already had the right answer handed to you: the way it is now, the point of the game is to categorize three sets and the fourth has no relevance. You’re welcome.

R150, No harm in adding a tad bit of difficulty.

Your change would be fixing a problem that does not exist. The object of the game is to make the connections, not simply to find the four groups. The last connection is often tricky enough. Adding two extraneous words would just muddy the waters.

R149, just a passing familiarity with the plot should be adequate.

I’ll give you a hint to one of the four groups: Geography.

Hint to another group: Profession.

I hope this one is a bit less opaque.

Today's Spelling Bee contains the letters for CUMDUMP.

Really, r157?

No Barbara?

R159, did you mean Barbra?

If you did, well, she doesn’t fit in any of those four categories.

But maybe you’ve just given me the idea for a Barbra-themed Connections.

P.S. Turn in your gay card.

I often get the purple category first.

Connections

Puzzle #373

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[quote]If you did, well, she doesn’t fit in any of those four categories.

BARBARA would go with DIANE, MELBA, and PRINCE ORLOFF.

Yesterday's Spelling Bee had CUMDUMP. Today it's TEACAKE.

Are we sure the Spelling Bee isn't one of us?

Dildo was either Saturday or Sunday

I FAILED at Connections today. 😨

Struck out here, too, r165. Got zero correct.

But! got wordle in 4 as usual.

Connections, 6/21:

One category was so stupidly simple as to be rejected; and another category was simply stupid. The creators need consistency in level of difficulty and maturity.

Now today's (6/22) "Connections" was Goldilocks---just right in degree of difficulty, like an Olympic platform dive! (If you haven't been watching, tsk tsk!)

Agree r168 Connections 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦 The purple is often not the last (but usually is).

Oops, format mishap ^^^

Happy 7 across

Today's Spelling Bee was ridiculously easy.

As are you by all accounts.

Y'all.. Whee has this game show been all my life. This is like Connections for the mensa crowd. It's nice to see smart people just be smart. It's not just about trivia like Jeopardy. And I love the host. Brits, is this a popular show? Oh it's called Only Connect and it's been off for 20 years or so.

I don’t watch game shows but it turns up on UK Gogglebox fairly frequently.

Yesterday’s Connections had TWO, TOO, TUE, and TO as one Connection. Stupidest category of all time.

There was a puzzle in the episode that was actually very beautiful. Can you guess the Connection?

-Beethoven's 7th

-Center of Gravity

-3rd of November

-Very Beginning

Ohh didn't realize the NYT did a copycat. Wordle was basically Lingo and Lingo is back but with RuPaul?

R177, I Googled. There is nothing "beautiful" about the UTTERLY STUPID CONNECTION.

What is it r179?

I don’t like Victoria Coren Mitchell or her unfunny husband.

Each clue self-reflectively indicates where the letter "v" is within the clue. the 7th letter in Beethoven is v, etc.

I guess the Spelling Bee isn’t one of us, because today it rejected FRAU.

How dare Spelling Bee not accept bitch?

I think they used to. Some cunt must have complained that it’s “sexist.”

Ridiculous

Today it accepts MANOR, but not FOOTMAN?!?

So annoying

And moron is fine, but gringo (another day I know) was not?

I couldn't complete Wordle at midnight and gave up after the first two words I submitted revealed three letters. I woke up at 4 am, a word popped into my head while I was still groggy and I entered it and solved Wordle.

I love how one's subconscious works at problem-solving.

R184 Probably the same cunt who complained about "bimbo".

Who puts broccoli on a jacket potato?

I'll post tomorrow, 7/14, on why today's "Connections" has a group with an INCORRECT item.

For 7/13: Group = "Words with a silent 't'."

The "t" in the word "witch" is not truly silent. It is pronounced by "tapping" the tongue on the roof of the mouth.

It is basically pronounced as "wit-ch."

Now pronounce "which." No "t" = no palate tap.

Off to today's!

Today’s crossword is something different. I suspect they’ll receive fewer complaints than they might have.

I do the Spelling Bee, Wordle, and Connections every day, occasionally the crossword, though I hate crosswords with an editorial (always flippant) tone or themes of Broadway musicals or some other shit that puts me at a disadvantage to proper words.

Wordle is either easy or a bit of a disaster, it all depends on my mood for it that day. I occasionally squeak by at "Phew!" level, but do reasonably well not to apply any strategies or use assistance. The few times I got the prize on the second guess owed mosty to a stroke of luck: the first word that fit that popped to mind (which isn't always the correct answer.)

Connections I always get by grouping the related words and then figuring out the theme of the relationship - or sometimes not. It seems it's always possible to get three correct answers and then the fourth solves itself.

Spelling Bee I like because in the right mood it's a challenge to see how quickly I can race through it to Genius level. for me it's the star of the show, simple as it is.

Okay I made another connection game-- for the Eldgergays!

Well, that's just great. Today's Spelling Bee won’t accept DICKHEAD as a word, even though it would be a pangram. Fuck.

For shame!

I was annoyed about that as well.

Anyone know why the second Wordl thread was nuked?

Didn’t know there was one, ElderLez.

Got it in 3 today. You?

Two

Got the wordle in two today as well.

It was nuked. I just noticed. And I'll add I got it in three today too.

Two again today.

Three for me. My habitual first guess is not great but I stick with it for what can only be superstition.

I don’t understand why you lose your Wordle streak if you don’t do the puzzle before a certain time. Do they assume you’ll cheat after the results are published when 50 million people could give you the word if you asked? Same for Connections

You have until midnight. How long do you need? Yes, they assume you'll cheat.

Two today. Woohoo!

Me too! And only one hint used in Strands.

Go you two! Took me four. Same here on Strands.

Flunked the mini. How do you flunk the mini? You run out of patients and press Reveal Puzzle, that’s how. Some nerve!

^^^ patience

Wow! Didn’t know that was a possibility.

Every morning with coffee: Wordle, Connections, Strands, and EASY Ken-Ken. Love 'em all. Connections makes me crazy. My longest string of wins is SEVEN!! And I'm proud of it. Strands can be either too, too easy or impossible. Can't start my day if I don't play all of them.

[quote]Wow! Didn’t know that was a possibility.

Desperate times, desperate measures, ElderLez …

I got Wordle in one today, baby!! My second time in 723 plays; 98% wins.

Drinks are on me. 🥹

Too generous r215, thanks! Well done.

Did anyone fall for the Golden Girls in Connections today?

I did R217. I should have known it was too gay to be true.

I knew it couldn't be it when there was no e in blanch, but it was cute!