NYT Connections · #1194
NYT Connections Hints & Answers
When a word feels like an obvious fit for one group, test it against every other group before you commit — several words here are designed to land in the wrong bucket first.
FOXTROT, MODERN, SWING and TAP appeared together as a group in Connections #565 (Nov 30, 2024). They were grouped under dance styles then too.
Today's Puzzle Words & Clues
Which word from today's puzzle confuses you?
| Word | Meaning | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| DEED | The property card you collect when you buy a street in Monopoly — not a heroic act. | EARTH | Its mantle is the thick rocky layer between the crust and the core. |
| EMPEROR | The emperor penguin has a distinctive mantle — the dark feathered cape across its back. | FEATURED | The sort option that surfaces editor-picked or promoted content at the top. |
| FIREPLACE | The mantel here is the decorative shelf sitting above the hearth. | FOXTROT | A smooth, gliding ballroom dance — also NATO's letter F, which is the bait. |
| HOTEL | The red plastic building you place on a fully developed property to maximise rent. | MODERN | A concert dance genre born in the early 20th century as a break from classical ballet. |
| MONEY | The colourful paper cash that funds every transaction in the game. | POPULAR | A feed filter ranking content by likes, shares or views — not just a general adjective here. |
| RECENT | The chronological sort that shows the newest posts first. | SWING | An energetic partner dance from the jazz era — not a playground fixture or a political term. |
| TAP | The dance style where metal-tipped shoes make the rhythm — not the water faucet or the touchscreen gesture. | TOKEN | The small metal playing piece — the top hat, the iron, the dog — not a crypto coin or a gesture. |
| TRENDING | A sort mode highlighting content gaining rapid attention right now — not just a synonym for modern. | YANKEES | Points to Mickey Mantle, the Hall of Fame centre fielder who defined the Yankees dynasty of the 1950s and 60s. |
Tricky words to watch
Decoys the NYT plants to throw you off. Tap one to see why it bites.
Decoy FOXTROT
You're probably thinking of the NATO phonetic alphabet — F for Foxtrot — but the puzzle is using it as a ballroom dance, not a radio callsign.
Decoy SWING
You're probably picturing a playground swing, a political swing state, or swinging a bat — but here it's a partner dance style, not any of those.
Decoy MODERN
You're probably reading it as a general adjective meaning contemporary, which makes it feel like it belongs with TRENDING — but here it's a specific dance genre, not a descriptor.
Decoy YANKEES
You're probably thinking of the baseball team — but the puzzle is using it to point to a famous Yankee by name, connecting it to something entirely non-sporting.
Decoy TOKEN
You're probably reading it as a crypto token or a symbolic gesture — but here it's the small playing piece you move around a board.
Group Hints & Reveal Assistant
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What are today's Connections answers?
Full spoilers — all four groups revealed.
Yellow group answers
The Yellow Connections group today is DANCE STYLES. The yellow group words are FOXTROT, MODERN, SWING, TAP. FOXTROT, MODERN, SWING and TAP are all dance styles. This exact group appeared in Connections #565 — the NYT has recycled all four words together before.
Green group answers
The Green Connections group today is IN A MONOPOLY BOX. The green group words are DEED, HOTEL, MONEY, TOKEN. DEED, HOTEL, MONEY and TOKEN are all components found inside a Monopoly box. DEED and TOKEN are the sneakiest — both carry strong non-Monopoly readings that pull solvers away from the board game.
Blue group answers
The Blue Connections group today is CONTENT SORTING OPTIONS ONLINE. The blue group words are FEATURED, POPULAR, RECENT, TRENDING. FEATURED, POPULAR, RECENT and TRENDING are all content-sorting or filtering options you find on websites and apps. POPULAR is the trickiest — it reads as a plain adjective, but on most platforms it's a specific tab or sort mode.
Purple group answers
The Purple Connections group today is THINGS WITH MANTLES/MANTELS. The purple group words are EARTH, EMPEROR, FIREPLACE, YANKEES. EARTH, EMPEROR, FIREPLACE and YANKEES all have an associated mantle or mantel: the Earth's mantle (geological layer), the emperor penguin's mantle (feather colouring), a fireplace mantel (the shelf above), and Mickey Mantle (the Yankees legend). YANKEES is the hardest leap — you have to get from the team to the player to the surname.