NYT Connections Colors Explained: Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple

In NYT Connections, the colors tell you how hard a group is, not what it is about. Yellow is the easiest category and purple is the trickiest, with green and blue in between. The grid only shows colors once you solve a group, but knowing the ranking changes how you play.

What each color means

The Times says each group is assigned a color, yellow, green, blue or purple, with yellow the easiest and purple the trickiest. Nothing else is official: the color never tells you the subject, and a yellow group might be food one day and sports the next.

Yellow

The most direct link on the board: things that obviously belong together. If you can name the connection in a few words, it is probably yellow, which makes it the safest place to start.

Green

Still a fairly plain category, but it usually takes a second look. Green groups often share words with yellow, so a set of four that seems obvious may turn out to be the green group plus a decoy.

Blue

Blue is where puzzles tend to get more specific or lean on a less common meaning of a word. Decoys are most dangerous here, because several words may seem to fit.

Purple

Purple is the trickiest group and is usually where wordplay lives. Instead of “things that are X,” expect links like words that can all follow the same word, or words sharing an unexpected second meaning. If four words seem too clever to be a normal category, they are probably purple.

Green, blue and purple tendencies are patterns players have noticed, not rules. Puzzles break them regularly.

How to use the colors while you play

You never see which words are yellow or purple, but the ranking still helps.

Start where the connection is plainest. The easiest link on the board is usually yellow, and solving it removes four words that could mislead you elsewhere.
Distrust a set of four with a fifth candidate. If five words fit one category, one of them belongs to a harder group, and that is the decoy.
Use the last eight words. With two groups solved, the remaining eight hold the harder two. Solve the one you can name and the other falls out without you ever explaining it.
Don’t hunt for a topic to match a color. Asking “which of these is the blue topic?” gets you nowhere.

Do the colors mean the same thing in the Sports Edition?

Yes. Connections Sports Edition has the same format and colors, but its categories lean on teams, athletes and sporting vocabulary.

Do the colors appear in my results grid?

Yes. When you share a result, each row shows the colors of the words you selected, in the order you guessed them. A grid that starts with purple and ends with yellow tells other players you solved the hard group first.

Do I have to solve the colors in order?

No. You can submit groups in any order. Starting with yellow is a strategy, not a rule.

What does “One Away” tell me about color?

Nothing directly. It means three of your four words belong together and one belongs to another group, often a harder one.

For more on decoys and purple wordplay, see our Connections strategy guide. If you are stuck mid-puzzle, today’s Connections hints give category themes before any answers, and the Connections hub collects past puzzles.

Word Game Clues is an independent hint site and is not affiliated with The New York Times or any of the game publishers mentioned here.