Another day, another brain-teasing challenge from the New York Times Connections! If you're staring at today's 16 words feeling completely stumped, worry not—we've got your back with comprehensive hints and the full solution breakdown.
Today's Connections Puzzle #874: First Look
The November 1 edition presents players with these 16 intriguing words: BUCK, CARD, COUGAR, DOE, EWE, FAWN, HIND, JENNY, LAMB, MARE, RAM, ROE, STAG, STEED, VIXEN, YEARLING. At first glance, it's clear we're dealing with animals and animal-related terms, but the categories require some clever thinking.
Progressive Hints to Guide You
Subtle Clues (Difficulty: Easy)
If you want just a nudge in the right direction, here are some gentle hints:
- One category involves female animals specifically
- Another group relates to deer and similar creatures
- Look for terms connected to horses
- The remaining category might surprise you
Category Themes (Difficulty: Medium)
Ready for more direct guidance? Here are the category themes:
- Female animals
- Deer and related terms
- Horse synonyms
- Young animals
The Complete Solution Revealed
Yellow Category (Easiest)
FEMALE ANIMALS: DOE, EWE, JENNY, MARE
This group represents female counterparts in the animal kingdom—doe for deer, ewe for sheep, jenny for donkey, and mare for horse.
Green Category
DEER: BUCK, DOE, FAWN, STAG
All terms related to deer, covering both genders and young deer.
Blue Category
HORSE: COUGAR, MARE, STEED, YEARLING
While 'cougar' might throw you off (it's also a term for an older woman pursuing younger men), here it completes the horse-related terms alongside mare, steed, and yearling.
Purple Category (Most Challenging)
YOUNG ANIMALS: FAWN, LAMB, YEARLING, VIXEN
The trickiest group! Vixen typically means a female fox, but it can also refer to a young fox, completing this category of young animals.
Why Today's Puzzle Was Particularly Clever
Today's puzzle demonstrated the classic Connections challenge where words can belong to multiple potential categories. Terms like 'doe' and 'mare' could fit in multiple groups, requiring players to think strategically about which category made the most sense for each word.
The inclusion of 'vixen' in the young animals category was the real stumper—a brilliant move by the puzzle creators that likely tripped up many seasoned players.
Tips for Tomorrow's Puzzle
Remember that Connections often uses words with multiple meanings. Don't get locked into your first interpretation of a word. Also, pay attention to words that could fit into multiple categories—these are usually the key to solving the more challenging groups.
Did today's puzzle have you scratching your head? Whether you solved it independently or needed our hints, there's always another challenge waiting tomorrow. Keep those puzzle-solving skills sharp!
