Today's NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Saturday, November 25, 2023

Credit: Ian Moore

Today’s board reminds me of sitting on the couch with a REMOTE, watching TV like in the old days (although if you’re old enough, you’ll remember not having a REMOTE).  Anyway, if you’re looking for the Connections answer for Saturday, November 25, 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 November 25, NYT Connections #167! 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!

Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?

Nope, not today.

Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle

Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:

Yellow category - Getaway.

Green category - How much?

Blue category - Like lakes and rivers. 

Purple category - Turn your device upside down.

Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?

There’s a tricky purple category that relates to the visual appearance of the 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?

CHANNEL, VOLUME, and SOUND might appear to be things you’d find on a television REMOTE (maybe there’s even a channel 96) but this is a phantom theme; there’s nothing about TV remote buttons in today’s puzzle.

CHANNEL is another word for a narrow body of water, much like a CANAL (the two words are etymologically related). And today they do go in the same category together.

VOLUME can refer to how loud something is, but it’s also a more general term used to describe “how much” of a thing. For example, the more sets you do in weightlifting, the higher VOLUME of work you’re doing. Or consider tablespoons, cups, and gallons: They are all measures, not of weight, but of VOLUME.

96 can mean…well, anything you have 96 of. This isn’t a specific reference to anything. In fact, 69 would have worked just as well in its place. 

What are the categories in today’s Connections?

Yellow: SECLUDED

Green: AGGREGATE SIZE

Blue: BODIES OF WATER

Purple: READS THE SAME ROTATED 180°

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 SECLUDED and the words are: HIDDEN, PRIVATE, REMOTE, SECRET.

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 AGGREGATE SIZE and the words are: AMOUNT, NUMBER, QUANTITY, VOLUME.

What are the blue words in today’s Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is BODIES OF WATER and the words are: CANAL, CHANNEL, SOUND, STRAIT.

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 READS THE SAME ROTATED 180° and the words are: 96, MOW, NOON, SIS.

How I solved today’s Connections

I am, of course, distracted by the TV words. We could use the REMOTE to change the CHANNEL or turn down the VOLUME of the SOUND. But I can’t put together any coherent groups, so I start with QUANTITY, which can also mean AMOUNT, VOLUME, or NUMBER. 🟩

CHANNEL, CANAL, and STRAIT are all aquatic passageways between areas of land. I’m stuck at just those three, until I remember that a SOUND can also be a body of water, as when relatives on Long Island would refer to “the SOUND” as a separate place from “the ocean.” 🟦

SECRET, HIDDEN, and PRIVATE all clearly go together; REMOTE doesn’t mean the same thing, but all of those words could refer to a hideaway location. I take that stab, and it’s right. 🟨

I was just about to say that I cannot fathom what NOON, MOW, SIS, and 96 have in common, except that NOON and SIS are palindromes. Then I realize–they all appear the same right side up and upside down. 🟪

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!