You'll Either Be Impressed Or Infuriated Once You Figure Out Where "Pool" Goes In Today's NYT Connections Groups

Illustration: Kotaku / Vicky Leta

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Hey, Connections fans—it’s that time again. The Sunday puzzle today is not quite as challenging as the notoriously difficult Sunday Times crossword, but it’s no walk in the park either. It’s a great way to close the weekend—that, and of course, fantasizing about what the Nintendo Switch 2 will be like. (OK, maybe there are better things to do than that.)

In the meantime, your daily sweet 16 words are back and ready for your best grouping efforts. The popular Connections brainbuster from The New York Times has four groups of words with a shared theme or commonality, but they’re shuffled into random order for you to figure out. Remember to take your time—many words have multiple meanings, so think twice before you click.

Today’s words: PASTEL, POOL, SUNTAN, SCULPTURE, PRINT, THIRD, NEUTRAL, DRAWING, NEW, ALLOY, OPEN, NEON, LOTTERY, SAVE, GRAYSCALE, and RAFFLE

Photo: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images (Getty Images)

Above is your visual hint for today’s yellow group. Maybe it’s right on the money for you? If you’re still scratching your head, well, hate to tell you, but yellow is the easiest group.

Need a verbal clue? Then you must not be an artist. If you were, you’d know this stuff like the back of your hand.

Tapping out? One of these was a curveball, mainly because it’s, well, not the first word that comes to mind when you see the category name. It’s one of those “only makes sense when you see it with the others” times that make Connections fun. Frustrating, but in a fun way!

Today’s yellow group answer is Color Types and its words are GRAYSCALE, NEON, NEUTRAL, and PASTEL.

Photo: Naomi Baker/Getty Images (Getty Images)

There’s your visual hint for today’s blue group. It might be your eureka! moment. (No, sorry, that was not a clue.) Or it might not have helped at all. Hey, we try.

Time for the verbal clues: A dollar and a dream. Lady Luck. Pull out your ticket because here are today’s numbers.

No? This could have been a yellow category, too, except for that one pesky word that kinda-sorta-maybe worked with some of the others?

Today’s blue group answer is Chance to Win a Prize and its words are DRAWING, LOTTERY, POOL, and RAFFLE.

Photo: Patrik Stollarz/Getty Images (Getty Images)

We’re going to go out on a limb and say this is a pretty powerful visual clue. Will it get you to the finish line? That’s the catch—you still have to find the right words.

Need the verbal clue? Are you on a laptop as you’re doing the puzzle or as you read this? The answer is literally at your fingertips.

Give up? It’s one of those days when green and yellow should have switched spots because the former was so simple.

Today’s green group answer is File Menu Options and its words are NEW, OPEN, PRINT, and SAVE.

Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images (Getty Images)

The purple group is the hardest one, so don’t kick yourself if this visual hint does not immediately take you to the promised land.

Here’s your verbal clue: One word is science, one is art, one is sports, and the fourth is something that looks good but might not be the healthiest thing to do to yourself.

Purple lived up to its “hardest group” rep today for sure. Without the answer, these four words really have no obvious association with each other.

Today’s purple group answer is What “Bronze” Might Mean and its words are ALLOY, SCULPTURE, THIRD, and SUNTAN.

That concludes another weekend of Connections — see you next Saturday!