The New York Times Connections puzzle for February 2, 2025, brought a mix of straightforward and tricky categories. As always, players had to group words into four categories, with varying degrees of difficulty. Today’s puzzle leaned heavily on American pop culture references, making it challenging for some.
For those looking for hints without outright spoilers, this guide provides a breakdown of category clues before revealing the final answers.
Category Hints
As per the puzzle’s standard format, the four categories are presented in increasing difficulty:
- Yellow (Easiest) – Related to sadness
- Green (Moderate) – Related to feathered friends
- Blue (Challenging) – Related to sitcoms
- Purple (Hardest) – Words that follow the same letter (Hint: From the first half of the alphabet)
A major red herring in today’s puzzle involved multiple bird-related words, leading to confusion in the green category. Additionally, there was no cheese-related category, despite words that might have suggested one.
Analysis of Each Category
1. Yellow Category – Emotions of Sadness
This was the easiest group to form since all the words shared a clear emotional connection. These words describe a state of sadness or dejection, making them relatively simple to spot.
Common misdirections: Some of these words might have seemed like they belonged to other categories due to multiple meanings. However, their primary connection to sorrow made them fit together.
2. Green Category – Birds That Are Verbs
This category presented a fair challenge due to the presence of multiple bird-related words in the puzzle. The key to solving this one was recognizing that all the words were both birds and verbs, meaning they describe actions as well.
Common misdirections: The puzzle included more than four bird-related words, making it easy to second-guess choices. Additionally, the presence of a mythical “winged beast” led to further confusion.
3. Blue Category – TV Comedy Families
This category tested knowledge of television sitcoms, specifically family names from well-known shows. While some of these are famous, others might not be as familiar to international players.
Common misdirections: Some words in this group had multiple meanings unrelated to TV, making it difficult to connect them at first glance. Additionally, some words that seemed like last names didn’t fit into this group.
4. Purple Category – Words That Follow “K”
This was the most difficult category, as it required players to think about how words pair with a specific letter. The key here was recognizing that all words could be preceded by the letter “K” to form familiar terms.
Common misdirections: Some words in this group seemed completely unrelated at first glance. Players unfamiliar with common phrases that start with “K” might have struggled to see the connection.
Red Herrings and Traps
Every NYT Connections puzzle includes intentional misdirections, and today’s puzzle had plenty:
- Bird Confusion: There were more than four birds in the list, which made sorting the Green category difficult.
- Multiple Meanings: Some words had secondary meanings that made them appear to belong elsewhere.
- Pop Culture Bias: The Blue category relied on knowledge of American sitcoms, which could trip up players unfamiliar with these shows.
- Letter Trickery: The hardest category involved recognizing a pattern rather than a thematic connection.
Final Answers
If you’re ready to see the solutions, here they are:
- Yellow Category: Dejected
- Blue
- Down
- Hangdog
- Sorry
- Green Category: Birds That Are Verbs
- Duck
- Grouse
- Hawk
- Swallow
- Blue Category: TV Comedy Families
- Griffin (Family Guy)
- Munster (The Munsters)
- Partridge (The Partridge Family)
- Pickles (Rugrats)
- Purple Category: Words After “K”
- Mart (Kmart)
- Pop (K-Pop)
- Street (K-Street)
- Swiss (K-Swiss)
Final Thoughts
Today’s NYT Connections puzzle proved tricky for many players, especially due to red herrings and pop culture references. The Green category was particularly challenging due to the abundance of bird-related words. Meanwhile, the Purple category required lateral thinking about how words pair with the letter “K.”
For those who struggled, the key takeaway is to watch out for words with multiple meanings and avoid overcomplicating the simplest connections. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s puzzle, and happy solving!
