Today's NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Thursday, November 23, 2023

Credit: Ian Moore

It’s time to talk TURKEY about this food-themed puzzle: it’s not as food-themed as it looks at first glance. If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Thanksgiving day (Thursday, November 23, 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 23, NYT Connections #165! 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?

If you know the flags of countries around the world and the names of certain sports icons…well, good luck anyway, this is a toughie. RAGOUT, by the way, is a French word meaning a simmered stew. It’s a relative of ragù, an Italian word often applied to meat sauce served on pasta. 

Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle

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

Yellow category - This category is more than half baked!

Green category - Think French.

Blue category - World travelers will have an advantage here.

Purple category - These guys are shooting hoops.

Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?

There’s one category based on the spelling/pronunciation of the words. Another relates to names. 

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?

PASTY can be an adjective meaning that somebody looks pale; it’s also a hand pie traditionally made for miners in England, constructed so you can hold the crust with your filthy, arsenic-tainted hands. (Today I learned that they are traditionally made with sweet filling at one end; you eat that side last, as dessert.) 

A PARFAIT is a dish made by layering something creamy with fruit or other fillings. A PARFAIT made with yogurt and granola can let you believe you are eating a healthy breakfast; a Peanut Buster PARFAIT made with ice cream, peanuts, and fudge was my favorite Dairy Queen order as a kid. The word comes from French and means “perfect.” The T is silent, just like in BOUQUET.

TURKEY is only a BIRD today on your Thanksgiving table. In this puzzle, it refers to the country (properly spelled Türkiye, but close enough).

CURRY is another simmered dish, and you can also CURRY favor or use a CURRY comb to groom a horse. Forget all of that today, though, and think of basketball player Steph CURRY. 

What are the categories in today’s Connections?

Yellow: FOODS WITH CRUSTS

Green: ENDING IN A SILENT “T”

Blue: COUNTRIES WITH RED AND WHITE FLAGS

Purple: N.B.A. GREATS

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 FOODS WITH CRUSTS and the words are: PASTY, PIE, TART, TURNOVER.

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 ENDING IN A SILENT “T” and the words are: BOUQUET, PARFAIT, RAGOUT, RAPPORT.

What are the blue words in today’s Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is COUNTRIES WITH RED AND WHITE FLAGS and the words are: JAPAN, POLAND, TUNISIA, TURKEY.

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 N.B.A. GREATS and the words are: BIRD, CURRY, JAMES, JORDAN.

How I solved today’s Connections

I love all the food words for a food themed holiday! My eye went straight to PIE, TART, and TURNOVER, and it only took a second to realize the last one was PASTY (not pastry), a British hand pie. 🟨

I puzzled over the rest for a long time. RAGOUT and CURRY are both foods made of a simmered mixture of ingredients. JAMES and JORDAN could both be names. TURKEY was one of five countries I saw on the board. Finally, I asked myself “what does RAPPORT have to do with anything?” and saw that it shared a silent T with BOUQUET, RAGOUT, and PARFAIT. 🟩

Still, I was stuck. I still had my five countries, and couldn’t make sense of the other three words. Aha! Larry BIRD and Michael JORDAN are both legendary basketball players; they go with Steph CURRY and LeBron JAMES. 🟪 Finally, I had four countries: TURKEY, POLAND, TUNISIA, and JAPAN. 🟦

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!