'Connections' December 21: Hints and Answers for Game #559

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It's time to rejoice, as Saturday is finally here and so is another Connections puzzle, which Newsweek can help you solve.

Following the widespread success of Wordle—a game that captured the hearts of millions and was subsequently acquired by The New York Times in early 2022—the newspaper introduced a new puzzle, Connections, in 2023. It quickly became a favorite among brainteaser enthusiasts, with people taking to social media to share their daily progress.

Here Newsweek has provided instructions on how to play and clues to help you solve the game, but scroll with caution if you want to figure out the answers yourself, as they appear at the end of the article.

How to Play 'Connections'

The brainteaser tasks players with grouping 16 words into four categories based on association.

Each of the four categories is labeled with a color, which also signifies their difficulty level. Yellow is the easiest category, followed by green, blue and purple. However, the puzzles are rarely straightforward, using homophones and wordplay, among other techniques, to keep things interesting.

The uniting themes can come from a broad range of categories—anything from classic Hollywood films to things you might find in a classroom. If you're stuck, try selecting the "shuffle" button to move the words to a different place on the grid.

Wyna Liu, a crossword editor at The New York Times Times who was asked to develop Connections, told Newsweek about her recommended tips for playing the game.

"My best piece of advice is to wait as long as you can before guessing," she said.

"You may see the board and have completely identified the category, seeing five words that could belong in that category," she continued. "Don't try to guess the four words in that category because even though you know what the fifth member is, you won't know which of the four it might not be," which would ultimately waste a turn.

"Don't do what I do, which is 'rage solve,'" Liu said.