'Connections' December 15: Hints and answers for Game #553

Connections is a daily game that keeps going, even on weekends. If you're feeling a little drained after a busy week, Newsweek has some helpful hints and tips to tackle today's puzzle.

Sunday's answers are included at the end of the article, so scroll carefully if you prefer to solve it yourself.

How to play 'Connections'

First, view the words. Players start with a 4x4 grid of 16 words. These words are seemingly random, but have hidden relationships.

Next, find connections. Look for groups of four words that share a common theme, category, or connection. For example:

Colors: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow

Countries: France, Spain, Canada, Brazil

Then, test your group. Select four words you think form a group. If you're correct, those words will lock into place as a category. If not, you'll get a strike.

Repeat and continue grouping until all four categories are identified or you run out of guesses.

Some helpful hints and strategies include the following: some words may overlap or fit into more than one group, so choose carefully.

Once you identify a category, it can help eliminate or narrow down the remaining possibilities.

It helps to think broadly. Connections can be thematic (e.g., animals, sports), linguistic (e.g., homophones, synonyms), or even tricky (e.g., puns, cultural references).

With scoring, completing the puzzle with fewer mistakes gives you a higher score. Players typically have a limited number of incorrect guesses, so need to plan wisely.

'Connections' #553 Hints for Sunday, December 15

Newsweek has some hints and clues to help you with Sunday's puzzle.

Yellow: Inside the pantry.

Green: To stumble, not do well.

Blue: To browse through a book.

Purple: All these are famous last names missing one letter.

'Connections' #553 Answers for Sunday, December 15

Yellow Category: SPICES

Yellow words: Clove, Mace, Nutmeg, Pepper

Green Category: PERFORM POORLY

Green Words:Flail, Flop, Flounder, Tank

Blue Category: SKIM THROUGH, AS PAGES

Blue Words: Flip, Leaf, Riffle, Thumb

Purple Category: POP SINGERS MINUS "S"

Purple Words: Key, Mar, Spear, Style

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 and Newsweek will be back tomorrow with another round of hints and tips.

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.