"Connections" December 27: Hints and answers for puzzle #565

Happy Friday, puzzle fanatics! If today's Connections game has you scratching your head, Newsweek is here to help.

The brainteaser, which was released by The New York Times last year and has since skyrocketed in popularity, can be tricky to solve. In June, Connections developer and NYT crossword editor Wyna Liu shared details with Newsweek on how she builds the games "from scratch," saying she has a notebook for when inspiration may strike.

"I usually don't know where a board is going to go," Liu said. "It really does a long time to fudge things and try different angles."

She added that her "best piece advice" to conquer the game "is to wait as long as you can before guessing."

Keep scrolling for Newsweek's helpful hints, but scroll with caution if you'd like to solve the puzzle for yourself. Friday's answers will also be revealed at the end of this article.

How to Play Connections

Luckily, the rules of Connections are simple. To start, players are given a set of 16 words in grid form. Players must separate these words into four groups of four based on a common theme and put them into categories. The categories range in difficulty from yellow to green to blue to purple—with yellow considered easy and purple considered hard.

For example, in Thursday's puzzle, the words "elder," "palm," "pine" and "spruce" were associated with the category, "Trees." This was a green category.

Once you've selected your four words, you'll click the "Submit" button. If the terms are correct, they'll flash in the category color they're associated with and will be removed from the board. If they're incorrect, however, they will appear gray in color and will remain on the board.

While there is no time limit to Connections, players only get four tries to get the game correct before the answers are revealed.

If you're in need of some assistance, perhaps the "Shuffle" button could give your brain the boost it needs.

Connections #565 Hints and Clues for Friday, December 27

Newsweek has helpful hints to assist you with Friday's puzzle.

Yellow: Food items that tend to be eaten in the morning

Green: Things you push

Blue: Objects that have a horn

Purple: Celebrities who all have something in common

Connections #565 Answers for Friday, December 27

Yellow Category: BREAKFAST SIDES

Yellow Words: Bacon, Grits, Hash, Toast

Green Category: PUSHES, AS A BUTTON

Green Words: Clicks, Hits, Presses, Taps

Blue Category: THEY HAVE A HORN

Blue Words: Africa, Bugler, Car, Unicorn

Purple Category: OSCAR-WINNING ACTORS

Purple Words: Bridges, Irons, Phoenix, Washington

Well done if you managed to solve #565 correctly, but don't stress if you didn't. You'll get another chance on Saturday when a new game will be available for you to try.

Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone, so be sure to check back with Newsweek for more hints and answers.

Looking for another challenge ahead of the weekend? Try giving one of these popular word games a go.