The New York Times Connections puzzle #577, for January 8th, 2025, presents a challenging word association game. Sixteen words must be sorted into four mystery categories. This article provides hints, clues, and the complete solution to help you conquer this brain teaser.
The Words: Pick, Memory, Limb, Biscuit, Trunk, Drumstick, Corn, Branch, Ear, Wing, Stained, Bow, Lincoln, Mallet, Tusk, Division.
Hints and Clues:
Several helpful hints can guide your thinking:
- General Hints: Food categories and tree parts are not represented. Corn and Stained belong together.
- Yellow Category (Easy): Think about parts of a larger whole, or segments.
- Green Category (Medium): Consider items needed to play musical instruments.
- Blue Category (Hard): Focus on characteristics of a specific large animal.
- Purple Category (Tricky): Consider words commonly misspelled in the names of nu-metal bands.
Solutions:
Below are the solutions for each category, including the words assigned to each. The solutions are presented in a way that reveals them progressively, allowing you to test your own problem-solving skills before seeing the full answer.
Yellow Category:
Hint: A part of a whole.
[Show Yellow Answer](Click to reveal
Section: Branch, Division, Limb, Wing
Green Category:
Hint: Items used with musical instruments.
[Show Green Answer](Click to reveal
Accessories for Playing an Instrument: Bow, Drumstick, Mallet, Pick
Blue Category:
Hint: Think of a large, grey animal.
[Show Blue Answer](Click to reveal
Distinctive Features of an Elephant: Ear, Memory, Trunk, Tusk
Purple Category:
Hint: Nu-metal band name misspellings.
[Show Purple Answer](Click to reveal
Words Misspelled in Nu Metal Band Names: Biscuit, Corn, Lincoln, Stained
Complete Solution Summary:
- Yellow - Section: Branch, Division, Limb, Wing
- Green - Accessories for Playing an Instrument: Bow, Drumstick, Mallet, Pick
- Blue - Distinctive Features of an Elephant: Ear, Memory, Trunk, Tusk
- Purple - Words Misspelled in Nu Metal Band Names: Biscuit, Corn, Lincoln, Stained
Ready to test your skills? Visit the New York Times Games Connections website to play!