NYT ‘Connections’ September 5: Answers, Clues for Game #452

If you’re struggling with Connections, Newsweek is here to help with another round of hints and solutions for today’s puzzle.

The New York Times introduced Connections in 2023 following the widespread success of Wordle—a word-based game that the Times bought in early 2022 and captured the hearts of millions.

The puzzle has built up a dedicated following from across the world. Instructions on how to play the game are below and today’s clues and answers are toward the end of the article.

How to Play ‘Connections’

Players are tasked with grouping 16 words into four categories based on association. For example, Wednesday’s puzzle saw the words “cater,” “host,” “plan” and “throw” joined together in the category “help put on a party.”

Each of the four categories is labeled with a color, which signifies their difficulty level. Yellow is the easiest category, followed by green, blue and purple. However, the puzzles are rarely straightforward, using homophones and wordplay, among other techniques, to keep players challenged.

The familiarity of the words used and how often they pop up in modern life are also difficulty factors. “Item overlap,” where one word can be linked to multiple categories, is another way Connections tests players.

If stuck, players can hit the shuffle button, which will mix up where the words appear on the screen. Users have four attempts to correctly guess the four groups. If you are unable to get all four connections, the answers and their corresponding difficulty color will be revealed at the end.

Connections editor Wyna Liu previously answered a series of questions about the game for the Times.

When asked what tips she can provide players, Liu said: “One suggestion that may help save some guesses is if you start selecting cards and notice that there are five or more that belong to that category, try pivoting to a different category before making that first guess.

“Doing so might take one of those extra cards out of contention, or at least remove a few cards from the board, making other categories easier to see.”

‘Connections’ #452 Clues for Thursday, September 5

Newsweek has some hints to help you figure out today’s Connections categories.

Yellow: Associated with haircare.

Green: The act can be negative or constructive.

Blue: Getting something.

Purple: Related to a popular American sport.

‘Connections’ #452 Answers for Thursday, September 5

Yellow Category: HAIR SALON OFFERINGS

Yellow Words: Blowout, Color, Cut, Trim

Green Category: CRITICIZE

Green Words: Bash, Blast, Pan, Slam

Blue Category: OBTAIN

Blue Words: Bag, Land, Score, Snag

Purple Category: MEASURED IN FOOTBALL STATS

Purple Words: Attempt, Reception, Sack, Yard

Did you work out the answers? If so, congratulations; if not, please don’t be put off. Practice makes perfect, and the next Connections puzzle will be published on Friday.

Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone, and Newsweek will be back tomorrow with another round of hints and tips.