Unlock the NYT Connections #822 Puzzle: The Hidden Clues That Separate Winners From Quitters Today!

Ever find yourself staring at a jumble of words and wondering if the universe is just messing with you? That’s exactly the vibe I got working through today’s New York Times Connections puzzle #822 — but hey, I cracked it faster than you can say “brain freeze.” Is it weird that the purple group, normally the ‘hard nut to crack,’ felt like a warm-up lap today? Guess I’m on a roll! If you’ve been spinning your wheels or feeling that twinge of “I need a break” frustration, I’m here to share my little hacks, hints, and, yep, some spoilers too (because who’s really keeping score?). Whether you’re a seasoned “connector” or a newbie dipping your toes into this wordy labyrinth, stick around—I’ve got the lowdown on how to conquer the puzzle without losing your marbles… and maybe even enjoy the ride. Ready to turn those scrambled words into your new obsession? Let’s do this. LEARN MORE.

Working on solving today’s New York Times Connections word game? I solved it with ease so I’ll share some hints (and spoilers if you want them) to help you get through Wednesday’s puzzle: #822. Don’t feel bad for taking a peek — these puzzles are designed to keep you guessing.

Since we’re in this together, I’ll share how I did each day. Somehow, the purple group was the easiest (and first!) for me to solve today. The other groups weren’t too bad, either.

If you’re new to NYT Connections, we’ve got some tips to help you along the way. Also, check out today’s Wordle hints and answer.

How to play NYT Connections

NYT Connections is a surprisingly difficult word game and if you play, you’re now considered a “connector.” There are 16 words presented in a four-by-four grid and your goal is to match four words into their respective color-coded groups (yellow, green, blue, purple). Yellow is the easiest to guess while purple is the hardest.

Your job is to find out how the four words are connected to a specific group. For instance, in one recent puzzle, the blue group hint was “related to buying a home” and the words were appraisal, escrow, insurance and mortgage.

If you make a mistake when you submit, that’s okay. You get four guesses before the game is over and the answers are revealed. You can also click on the lightbulb icon in the game to get some hints, but we’ll also provide those here.

If you find yourself obsessed with this game after completing just one puzzle, I’ve got bad news for you. You can only play once a day. The timer resets each night at midnight.

Tips for playing NYT Connections

I only recently started playing Connections, but here are some tips I’ve found useful along the way.

1. When you get an answer wrong, pay attention to the text that appears at the top of the puzzle. “One away” means you only got one word wrong. Analyze each word to find one that might fit better in another group and try a new word.

2. If you’re stuck, shuffle the board. You can shuffle as many times as you’d like to help you see some different word combinations.

3. Try to find the easy yellow group words first. Those words usually stick out because they have so much in common — they’re often synonyms of one another. But be wary of the trick words that could fit into multiple categories.

4. Stumped? Come back to the puzzle later with a fresher mind. Trying to solve a difficult puzzle without “sleeping” on it might result in too many mistakes.

Today’s NYT Connections hints

Check out these hints if you’re having a hard time grouping them together.

I’ll give you my own hints:

Yellow group: Scolding someone

Green group: Go fast

Blue group: A comedian plays all these parts

Purple group: A ruler (not measurement)

Here’s one word from each group:

Yellow group hint word: Tsk

Green group hint word: Race

Blue group hint word: Donkey

Purple group hint word: Cake

Okay, on to the official group names for a bigger hint. If you don’t want to know what those are, then stop scrolling.

NYT Connections group names

Here are the group names for today’s puzzle.

Yellow group: “You should know better!”

Green group: Move quickly

Blue group: Eddie Murphy roles

Purple group: King ___

Warning, spoilers ahead! If you scroll past this, the answers are right below.

Final warning! Last chance to go back and finish the game.

Today’s NYT Connections answers (spoilers)

Here are the Connections groups and the words that go with them.

Yellow group: “You should know better!” (bad, shame, tsk, tut tut)

Green group: Move quickly (barrel, fly, race, zip)

Blue group: Eddie Murphy roles (Akeem, Dolittle, Donkey, Foley)

Purple group: King ___ (Cake, Cobra, Kong, Tut)

My results today

I was pretty excited when I was able to quickly solve the purple group first this time. I had a feeling the blue group had something to do with characters — somehow I didn’t realize it was Eddie Murphy roles though. Not a terribly difficult puzzle for me today.

🟪🟪🟪🟪

🟨🟨🟨🟨

🟦🟦🟦🟦

🟩🟩🟩🟩

Thanks for reading! Share how you did today in the comments.