Today’s NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Wednesday, November 8

There were enough possibilities on this board to make me FLIP-FLOP several times, but I got the answers eventually. If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Wednesday, November 8, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for November 8, NYT Connections #149! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.

If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.

Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?

Nothing too tricky, but when you get stuck, think of words you may have seen on food or drink menus.

Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle

Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:

• Yellow category – Vacation time!
• Green category – Fast food.
• Blue category – I’m not sure about that…
• Purple category – Last call for drinks.

Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?

The purple category is one of those loose fill-in-the-blanks, where it’s not the same word uniting all the phrases…but they are referring to a two-word phrase for each.

Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.

BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!

We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)

What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?

• A FLIP-FLOP can be a type of sandal, or the metaphorical action of changing your opinion. Today you’ll want to think more about the shoe.
• YO-YO and SEE-SAW are both toys, and both hyphenated, and I’ll let you in on the secret that they do go together in today’s puzzle, but not for either of those reasons.
• CURLY can refer to hair, or to the Stooge who accompanied Moe and Larry in the classic slapstick movies. Here, it’s not about hair, but it does refer to the shape.
• A MULE can be a pack animal (or a shoe), but here it’s got a different meaning. Think about menus.

What are the categories in today’s Connections?

• Yellow: BROUGHT TO THE BEACH
• Green: TYPES OF FRENCH FRIES
• Blue: EQUIVOCATE
• Purple: SECOND WORDS OF VODKA COCKTAILS

DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW

Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.

What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?

The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is BROUGHT TO THE BEACH and the words are: FLIP-FLOP, SUNSCREEN, TOWEL, UMBRELLA.

What are the green words in today’s Connections?

The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is TYPES OF FRENCH FRIES and the words are: CURLY, SHOESTRING, WAFFLE, WEDGE.

What are the blue words in today’s Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is EQUIVOCATE and the words are: HEDGE, SEE-SAW, WAVER, YO-YO.

What are the purple words in today’s Connections?

The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is SECOND WORDS OF VODKA COCKTAILS and the words are: [sea] BREEZE, [Bloody] MARY, [Moscow] MULE, [white] RUSSIAN.

How I solved today’s Connections

YO-YO, SEE-SAW, and FLIP-FLOP look tantalizingly similar. With WAVER, they can refer to changing one’s position–but that is one away. I swapped in WAFFLE for FLIP-FLOP (seeing MULE makes me think there must be a shoe grouping) but that is also one away. Two mistakes burned, and I haven’t gotten anything yet.

Finally I think of SUNSCREEN, TOWEL, and UMBRELLA as things you could bring to the beach, and FLIP-FLOP goes nicely with them. That’s a hit. 🟨 I’m finally able to pin down the flip-flopping with YO-YO, WAVER, SEE-SAW, AND HEDGE. 🟦 (The fact that I got “one away” with both WAFFLE and FLIP-FLOP told me that either both of those words were right, or both were wrong. Otherwise I would have put WAFFLE in that grouping.)

I’m still thinking about shoes (WAFFLE sole, WEDGE heel) when I realize that one can have SHOESTRING potatoes and WAFFLE fries. WEDGE and CURLY fries qualify, too. 🟩

I am stumped on RUSSIAN, MARY, BREEZE, and MULE, even though I think of the drink White RUSSIAN while considering possibilities. Second words of cocktails? Really?? I expected something more…connected. 🟪

Connections 
Puzzle #150
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🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
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How to play Connections

I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:

First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).

Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.

You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

How to win Connections

The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.

If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.

Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!