NYT Connections Hints & Answers — Friday, March 22, 2024 (#285)
Puzzle #285. Start with a gentle nudge and work down — the full answers are at the bottom, hidden until you ask for them.
Just tell me the answer
The NYT Connections answer for Friday, March 22, 2024 (puzzle #285) is: YELLOW — JUMPING ANIMALS: CRICKET, FROG, HARE, KANGAROO. GREEN — APPLY PRESSURE TO: CRUSH, MASH, PRESS, SQUASH. BLUE — OLYMPIC SPORTS: BREAKING, HOCKEY, SKELETON, TRAMPOLINE. PURPLE — THINGS YOU CAN SET: MOOD, RECORD, TABLE, VOLLEYBALL.
Today's 16 words
The grid exactly as NYT laid it out for Friday, March 22, 2024. Nothing below this point is spoiled until you open it.
VOLLEYBALL
SQUASH
TABLE
HOCKEY
RECORD
BREAKING
CRICKET
PRESS
FROG
SKELETON
MOOD
CRUSH
TRAMPOLINE
KANGAROO
MASH
HARE
How hard is Connections #285?
Easy30/100
• Four clean, meaning-based categories with little overlap.
Where to start: Every category here is meaning-based, so group by topic first and use the four-per-group constraint to settle any word that could go two ways.
Connections hints for Friday, March 22, 2024
Four levels, each giving away a little more. Open only as many as you need.
yellow(the most straightforward group — start here) A group united by what they ARE, not by wordplay — think about animals.
green(a little trickier, but still direct) A group united by what they ARE, not by wordplay — think about pressure.
blue(where the misdirection usually starts) A group united by what they ARE, not by wordplay — think about sports.
purple(the wordplay group, and almost always the last to fall) A group united by what they ARE, not by wordplay — think about set.
yellow4 things that belong to the same real-world set — the link is meaning, not spelling.
green4 things that belong to the same real-world set — the link is meaning, not spelling.
blue4 things that belong to the same real-world set — the link is meaning, not spelling.
purple4 things that belong to the same real-world set — the link is meaning, not spelling.
yellowOne member is
greenOne member is
blueOne member is
purpleOne member is
yellow
green
blue
purple
NYT Connections answers for Friday, March 22, 2024
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Common questions
What is the NYT Connections answer for Friday, March 22, 2024?
The NYT Connections answer for Friday, March 22, 2024 (puzzle #285) is: YELLOW — JUMPING ANIMALS: CRICKET, FROG, HARE, KANGAROO. GREEN — APPLY PRESSURE TO: CRUSH, MASH, PRESS, SQUASH. BLUE — OLYMPIC SPORTS: BREAKING, HOCKEY, SKELETON, TRAMPOLINE. PURPLE — THINGS YOU CAN SET: MOOD, RECORD, TABLE, VOLLEYBALL.
What is the purple group in Connections #285?
The purple (hardest) group is "THINGS YOU CAN SET": MOOD, RECORD, TABLE, VOLLEYBALL.
What is the easiest group in today's Connections puzzle?
The yellow group is the most straightforward: "JUMPING ANIMALS" — CRICKET, FROG, HARE, KANGAROO. Solving it first removes four words from the grid.
What number is today's Connections puzzle?
Friday, March 22, 2024 is NYT Connections puzzle #285. Connections launched on 12 June 2023 with puzzle #1, and a new puzzle is published every day.
What time does a new NYT Connections puzzle come out?
A new Connections puzzle unlocks at midnight in your own local time zone, so the changeover happens at a different moment around the world. The puzzle itself is the same for everyone on a given date.