# Connections game unlimited: the rules, the daily limit and practice

Source: https://roam.new/connections-game/

Connections is a word puzzle from The New York Times that launched in June 2023. You get 16 words and sort them into four hidden groups of four, with up to four mistakes allowed. The official game gives one puzzle a day, which is why so many people search for an unlimited version.

## How Connections works

Pick four words you think share something, then submit. If you are right, the group locks in and shows its category. If you are wrong, you lose one of your four mistakes. Run out and the puzzle ends.

Groups are color-coded by difficulty: yellow is the easiest, then green, then blue, and purple is the hardest. Purple groups are often wordplay, like words that hide another word or words that can all follow the same prefix. Editor Wyna Liu has written the daily boards since the game launched.

The trick is the red herrings. Most puzzles have five or six words that seem to fit one group, and only four actually do.


## Why it is one a day, and how to play more

The New York Times releases one Connections puzzle per day, the same for everyone, so people can compare results. That shared puzzle is a big part of the fun. Unofficial fan sites offer endless puzzles, but they are not made by the Times and the quality varies a lot. If you want more of the same kind of thinking, word and trivia games scratch the same itch.


## Solving tips

- **Find the extra word**: If five words fit one idea, the odd one out belongs to another group.
- **Look for wordplay early**: Spotting the purple group first removes the trickiest overlaps.
- **Solve the sure thing first**: Locking in an easy group shrinks the board and reveals the rest.
- **Say words out loud**: Homophones and hidden words are easier to hear than to see.

## Make your own word-group game with Roam

Roam is a free iPhone app: describe a game and it comes back playable. Build your own word puzzle with your friends' inside jokes as the groups. Roam is rated 13+ on the App Store.

Try: "word-group puzzle, 16 tiles, sort them into four secret groups about my friends, four mistakes, a new board every round"

[Get Roam on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6745489251?pt=126889634&mt=8&ct=rnew-connections-game)

## Questions people ask

**How many mistakes can you make in Connections?**
Four. After the fourth wrong guess, the puzzle ends and the answers are shown.

**When did NYT Connections start?**
It launched in June 2023 as part of New York Times Games.

**What do the colors mean in Connections?**
They show difficulty. Yellow is the easiest group, then green and blue, and purple is the hardest.

## About Roam

Roam ("Roam - Make Games" on the App Store) is an iPhone app where you play games and make your own by describing them or from a photo. It is free to download and play, and making games works without a subscription; optional Spark and Reality plans and credit packs add more creation. Android: pre-register on Google Play. https://roam.gg