Unlock the Secrets Behind NYT Connections #821 – Your Ultimate Guide to Cracking Today’s Puzzle Like a Pro!

Ever find yourself tangled up in the web of word puzzles, wondering if your brain’s as fit as your body? Well, today’s New York Times Connections game might just test your mental muscle—and yes, I cracked it! Puzzle #821 came with its quirks, and I stumbled once (not bad, right?), mainly over the blue group—took me a hot minute to get that one. If you’re sweating over those 16 mystery words arranged in a color-coded grid, don’t sweat it; you’re not alone. These puzzles are crafted to twist your thoughts and keep the game spicy—kind of like pushing through the last rep when your muscles are screaming. Whether you’re a seasoned “connector” or just stepping onto the mental gym floor, I’m here to throw you some hints and a bit of a strategy boost. Ready to flex those word skills and win the day? Let’s dive in. LEARN MORE

Working on solving today’s New York Times Connections word game? I already solved it so I’ll share some hints (and spoilers if you want them) to help you get through Tuesday’s puzzle: #821. 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. I only made one mistake this time, which was great compared to yesterday’s game. It took me a minute to realize what the blue group was, but otherwise, this puzzle wasn’t too hard.

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: Finito

Green group: What you might find washed up on a beach

Blue group: Ways to quickly drink something

Purple group: Woof woof

Here’s one word from each group:

Yellow group hint word: Done

Green group hint word: Hard taco

Blue group hint word: Slug

Purple group hint word: Watch

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: Finished

Green group: Things with shells

Blue group: Swig

Purple group: ___ dog

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: Finished (complete, done, over, through)

Green group: Things with shells (egg, hard taco, M&M, snail)

Blue group: Swig (belt, gulp, shot, slug)

Purple group: ___ dog (bull, lap, under, watch)

My results today

Glad I guessed green on the first go, but I definitely thought the category was “things you can eat.” I made one mistake thinking the blue group was “things you can fasten,” but quickly realized it was more related to ways to drink something.

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