'Connections' December 13: Hints and answers for game #551

Connections was barely a year old when it became a global hit.

Released by The New York Times in June 2023, it quickly raced up the newspaper's rankings as its second-most popular game behind Wordle.

It is a daily word game that requires players to group together words under a common theme and then they can share their results on social media or in messages with friends and family.

Newsweek has put together some advice on how to play as well as hints and the answers for Friday's game, so be careful scrolling down if you want to solve it by yourself.

How to Play 'Connections'

The categories vary in difficulty from yellow to green to blue to purple, with yellow considered the easiest category and purple the trickiest.

For example, a recent game linked the words "braid," "bun," "pony" and "twist" under the category: "Ways to wear your hair up." This was a blue category.

Once you have selected four words, you click the "submit" button. If your choices match a category, they will appear in the category color and disappear from the grid. If they are incorrect, however, they will remain gray and stay on the board.

If you are stuck, try selecting the "shuffle" button to move the words to a different place on the grid.

"My top advice is to hold off on guessing as long as you can," Wyna Liu, a crossword editor at The New York Times, previously told Newsweek.

"You might spot a clear category and think you see five words that fit, but don't try guessing the four until you're sure which one doesn't belong. Jumping in too soon can cost you a turn."

'Connections' #551 Clues for Friday, December 13

Newsweek has some hints to help you figure out today's Connections categories.

Yellow: Supernatural beings.

Green: Files you might find in your electronic email.

Blue: Carbonated beverages made from citrus flavors.

Purple: Words that sounds the same, spelt different that sound like creatures from the animal kingdom.

'Connections' #551 Answers for Friday, December 13

Yellow Category: FANTASY CREATURES

Yellow Words: Dragon, Giant, Pixie, Trolls

Green Category: EMAIL FOLDERS

Green Words: Drafts, Sent, Spam, Trash

Blue Category: CITRUS SODAS

Blue Words: Sprite, Crush, Squirt, Starry

Purple Category: ANIMAL HOMOPHONES

Purple Words: Bore, Links, Phish, Towed

Did you guess the answers correctly? If so, congratulations. If not, there will be another opportunity to crack the code tomorrow.

Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone. Newsweek will be back then with another round of hints and tips for each new game.

In the meantime, you could try your hand at Wordle—another popular game from The New York Times, for which Newsweek also provides daily hints.