Word Connections
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Resets every Monday (UTC).
About Word Connections
Word Connections is a sorting puzzle played on a grid of twenty words. Hidden among them are four groups of five words that share a link, such as planets, tools or words that follow the same word. Your task is to spot the links, pick the five words that belong together and submit them before you run out of mistakes.
Each puzzle is assembled fresh from a bank of categories, so you will meet different groups each time. A round takes one to three minutes. A good run finds all four groups without a miss, and remaining mistakes add bonus points at the end.
How to play Word Connections
- Read all twenty words before you pick anything, and look for words that might share a theme.
- Tap exactly five words you think belong together. The Submit button only works when five are selected.
- Press Submit. A correct group is revealed with its name and moves to the top of the board.
- A wrong guess uses one of your four mistakes. If four of your five words belong together, the game tells you that you are one away.
- Find all four groups to win, or the game ends once the mistakes run out and the answers are shown.
Controls
| Keyboard and mouse | Click a word tile to select or deselect it, then click Submit or press Enter. Shuffle rearranges the remaining tiles and Deselect clears your picks. |
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| Phone and tablet | Tap five tiles to highlight them, then tap Submit. Use Shuffle to reorder the grid and Deselect to clear your selection. |
Scoring
Each correct group is worth 250 points. If you find all four groups, you also receive a 100 point bonus for every mistake you have left. The best possible score is therefore 1400, which means solving the board with no mistakes.
Tips and strategy
- Start with the group that looks most certain. Removing five words makes the remaining fifteen easier, and it also reveals which tricky words were decoys.
- Some words fit more than one theme, so a word may look right for two groups. Count candidates for a theme, since exactly five belong to each one.
- Watch for patterns that are about wording instead of meaning, such as words that all follow or precede the same word, like sun, fish or fire.
- When the game says you are one away, swap a single word. Check which of your five could fit another group better.
- Use Shuffle when you feel stuck. A new arrangement can break the visual link you were locked into and show a different connection.
Word Connections FAQ
▸How many words are in each group?
Five. The grid holds twenty words made up of four groups of five, and you must select exactly five words for each guess.
▸How many mistakes do I get?
Four. Each wrong submission uses one. When they are all gone, the remaining groups are revealed and the round ends with the points you already earned.
▸Does the puzzle change every time?
Yes. Four categories are drawn at random from a bank of themes and their words are shuffled, so each game is different.
▸Does shuffling cost anything?
No. Shuffle only reorders the tiles still on the board. It does not use a mistake or reduce your score.
