Today’s puzzle isn’t that TOUGH, if you keep your wits about you! If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Wednesday, December 13, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for December 13, NYT Connections #185! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.
If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.
Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!
Credit: Connections/NYT
Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?
If you can read all the words out loud, you’ll do fine. Knowing some sports terms will help a bit, too.
Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle
Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:
Yellow category – Hit the links.
Green category – What you might say if you’re getting a noogie.
Blue category – Something a little naughty or spicy.
Purple category – Words that make kids and English language learners go “are you serious?!”
Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?
The purple category involves something special about the spelling and pronunciation of these words.
Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.
BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!
We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)
What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?
BLUE and GREEN aren’t just colors today. BLUE language refers to swear words; BLUE movies would be pornographic ones. A GREEN, as a noun, can refer to any of a variety of fields or lawns (as in a town GREEN or a putting GREEN).
ROUGH and TOUGH seem like they might go together, but I promise they do not today. Neither do ROUGH and COARSE.
A BOUGH is a tree branch (“deck the halls with BOUGHs of holly”). It may look like it should rhyme with TOUGH, but it doesn’t.
What are the categories in today’s Connections?
Yellow: GOLF COURSE PARTS
Green: ”I GIVE!”
Blue: INDECENT
Purple: “-OUGH” WORDS THAT DON’T RHYME
DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW
Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.
What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?
The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is GOLF COURSE PARTS and the words are: BUNKER, FAIRWAY, GREEN, ROUGH.
What are the green words in today’s Connections?
The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is ”I GIVE!” and the words are: ENOUGH, MERCY, STOP, UNCLE.
What are the blue words in today’s Connections?
The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is INDECENT and the words are: BAWDY, BLUE, COARSE, RISQUE.
What are the purple words in today’s Connections?
The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is “-OUGH” WORDS THAT DON’T RHYME and the words are: BOUGH, COUGH, DOUGH, TOUGH.
How I solved today’s Connections
RISQUE, pronounced as two syllables, is a word you use to describe something sexy when you want to kind of distance yourself from it. BAWDY would fit; so would BLUE, and my next best guess was COARSE (as in, vulgar). That was a hit. 🟦
UNCLE and MERCY are words you say when you want somebody to stop hurting you; STOP and ENOUGH work, too. 🟩
With just eight words left, the golf terms jump out: GREEN, FAIRWAY, ROUGH, and BUNKER are all parts of a golf course. 🟨 That leaves four of our original six -GH words: DOUGH, TOUGH, BOUGH, COUGH. They are all spelled identically after the initial letter, but are all pronounced differently. Thanks, English. 🟪
Connections Puzzle #185 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟪
How to play Connections
I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:
First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).
Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.
You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.
How to win Connections
The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.
If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.
Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!
