Today's NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Credit: Ian Moore

There is a devilish trick in today’s puzzle, so buckle up. If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Wednesday, December 6, 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 6, NYT Connections #178! 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?

You’ll want to know your horoscopes for this one. Some musical background wouldn’t hurt, either. And if you are aware of the fact that TAU is a greek letter, you can go ahead and forget that information today. It won’t help you.

Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle

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

Yellow category - You might play these on a piano.

Green category - You might see these in the stars.

Blue category - You might buy these for your turntable.

Purple category - The only way you’re going to solve this category is by referring to one of the previous categories. 

Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?

Oh my, yes. There’s some category-spanning monkey business going on here today. You’ll need to know alternate names for the same category, and get a bit creative to even find them. 

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?

TAU is a greek letter, and a protein that builds up in the brain in Alzheimer’s. Neither of those meanings (or any other meaning) are important today. Just consider it as a syllable on its own. 

The VIRGIN and the BULL are both symbols you might see in horoscopes, but they are in different categories from each other today. 

You can play SCALES and NOTEs on a piano, but those are in different categories today. Only one refers to music. 

CAPITOL and COLUMBIA can both be cities, but they are also both record labels.

All of the three-letter words go together today. That’s more of a hint than I usually give you, but you’re probably going to need it.

What are the categories in today’s Connections?

Yellow: FOUND ON SHEET MUSIC

Green: ZODIAC SYMBOLS

Blue: RECORD LABELS

Purple: ZODIAC SIGN BEGINNINGS

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 FOUND ON SHEET MUSIC and the words are: CLEF, NOTE, REST, STAFF.

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 ZODIAC SYMBOLS and the words are: BULL, CRAB, SCALES, TWINS.

What are the blue words in today’s Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is RECORD LABELS and the words are: CAPITOL, COLUMBIA, VIRGIN, ISLAND.

RWhat 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 ZODIAC SIGN BEGINNINGS and the words are: CAN, GEM, LIB, TAU.

How I solved today’s Connections

NOTE, STAFF, REST, and CLEF are all found on sheet music. (I briefly consider SCALES, but that’s not notation.) 🟨

I’m stumped here. What is TAU besides the greek letter, or the amyloid protein? After seeing several zodiac signs–SCALES, TWINS, CRAB, VIRGIN, BULL–I have the idle thought that GEM is the first syllable of GEMINI. Wait a minute–

CAN, GEM, TAU, LIB are the first syllables of Cancer, Gemini, Taurus, and Libra! 🟪 Which are, in turn, the CRAB, TWINS, BULL, and SCALES. (VIRGIN can sit this one out.) 🟩

Finally we’re left with CAPITOL, COLUMBIA, VIRGIN, and ISLAND, which are record labels. 🟦

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!