Looking for today's answers to Connections? The August 16 answers for puzzle #432 are just a bit harder than yesterday's answers, with the Connections Companion rating this puzzle's difficulty at 3.4 out of 5.
Every day, we update this post with tips and tricks on connections to help you find the 4 answers of the day. And if the clues aren’t enough, you’ll find all 4 answers below, with category titles and corresponding words. Plus, we’re including a reflection on yesterday’s riddle, #431 in case you’re reading this in a different time zone.
Spoilers await you for Connections #432. Continue reading only if you want to know the answers to today's Connections.
You can also check out our guide on how to play NYT Connections for tips on how to solve the puzzle without our help.
Today's Connections Answer — Hints to Help You Solve It
Unlike our Wordle answer guide today, where we recommend the best Wordle starter words as a strategy, solving Connections relies on identifying connecting categories among 16 words. The difficulty level of each category is represented by a color; yellow is the easiest grouping and purple is the hardest. Once you make 4 mistakes in your guesses, the answers will be revealed, so the hints can be helpful.
If you need hints to solve the groupings, here are the themes for each, in order of difficulty:
- 🟨 YELLOW: Meh
- 🟩 Green: Abbreviations of US states
- 🟦 Blue: Types of boots
- 🟪 Purple:Things that go up and down
These clues should help you find at least part of the answers to today's questions about connections. If not, you can continue reading for more detailed clues; or, if you just want to know the answer, scroll down the page.
Here's a broader clue: Remember your zip codes while listening to Nancy Sinatra. It's a nice puzzle with a bit of ups and downs.
Today's Connections Answers
So what are today's Connections answers for game #431?
Drum roll, please…
- 🟨 Meh: Average, average, okay, average
- 🟩 US State Abbreviations: Hi, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania
- 🟦 Types of boots: Ankle, cowboy, go-go, thigh boot
- 🟪 Things that go up and down: Elevator, sun, tide, yo-yo
The last few days have been challenging Level 3s, and for the most part, they didn't seem any harder than the Level 2s of the previous days. That said, today's puzzle might give you pause as you work through its connections.
I spotted the yellow category early but ignored it to tackle the others. So I first got the state abbreviations. HI (Hawaii), MA (Massachusetts), OR (Oregon) and PA (Pennsylvania). OK might remind you of Oklahoma but don't fall into that little trap.
I gave up on the yellow, saw some knee high, ankle high socks and assumed they were another pair of socks we had made last week. Luckily, the cowboy and go-go socks were easy to spot.
Knowing the yellow category made it easy for me to transition to purple using elevator, sun, tide, and yo-yo for things that go up and down. It works, I guess, but I was left with a feeling of “so what?”
Then we finished with “Meh,” “Average,” “Fair,” “OK,” and “Average.”
Again, this one didn't seem too difficult to me, nor much more difficult than the other puzzles of the week. On the contrary, it's meh.
Answers to yesterday's connections
Reading this in a later time zone? Here are Connections' answers for game #431, which had a difficulty rating of 3.2 out of 5, according to the Connection companion.
I will say I took three shots at this one, but I think many will find this one easier than you might think, despite the much higher difficulty level.
I don't know what this says about me, but I found the blue category first, spotting Sierra, Bud, and Natty (who I think of more as Natty Ice), then Stella.
I took my hits here while trying to gather the green category. I got stuck on Pal.
Sometimes when you're having trouble it's best to take a break from the category you're working on and try somewhere else. I did this and quickly found the yellow category.
It was the scope, the reach, the reach, the reach.
The purple category fell next, as I ignored the green words that I knew were correct. For me, the phrase “hitting the jackpot” came to mind. It was a breeze to find my paycheck, PayPal account, and payphone from there.
Finally, I had green with complement, match, mate and partner.