Today's Connections Hints and Answers for December 11, 2024 (Puzzle #549)

Today Connections The puzzle is quite tricky, as players will need to figure out how to solve several different nouns that seem unconnected. There are many differences and similarities between them all, and knowing how to put them together will be a challenge. It's easy to get stuck in the last two categories in particularso if you have difficulty understanding them, don't feel bad about it. There are many complexities in these puzzles and today is no exception.

If you want a different kind of challenge, the NYT's Mini crossword It might be the right puzzle for you. There are many different challenges with crosswords, but there are some slightly different ones when it is in small format. Larger crosswords require many more different connection points, but they also offer more places to fill in words and potentially get hints that way. Smaller crosswords will require a little more creative thinking to get the job done.

Today's Connections Category Tips

DECEMBER 11 #549

If you need hints on today's puzzle, there are probably several reasons. The similarities in these words are vague enough to make it quite difficult to put things together. Additionally, some of the words are not necessarily references that everyone would be familiar withmeaning you would have to research what they are just to try and solve the puzzle. But with a little help, it will be easier to figure out what to do today.

• A category is about places where everyone shares a common idea
• A category is about things you need to make a similar move to use
• A category is about words that share something in common in their internal structure
• A category consists of four words that end in something similar in meaning to each other

If you still need help figuring out what these categories are about, you can see their names in the box belowfollowed by each person’s complete answers.

	UTOPIA
	THINGS YOU SHAKE
	PROPER NOUN PORTMANTEAUX
	ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR “FRIEND”

Today's Connections Answers

DECEMBER 11 #549

Yellow Answers: Revealed and Explained

This one seems harder than it should be for the easy category today. Although you could piece it all together if you knew what each of the words referred to, some of them are no longer common references. PARADISE and SEVENTH HEAVEN may share enough meaning in common to put them together anywaybut SHANGRI-LA might be a little more difficult. XANADU is a little newer, but probably still quite obscure for non-theater audiences. Personally, I am most familiar with its use in Star Warswhich has no obvious connection to a utopia in the series.

Green Answers: Revealed and Explained

This is the first one I've done, and although it was easier, I still think it's quite difficult. I only got it because of SNOWGLOBE and MAGIC 8 BALLwhen I saw the two and thought this might be the right connection to make. Still, while I was getting the SALAD DRESSING, I had to look a little harder for the HAIRSPRAY. I know you can shake it, but you don't always shake it the way others should be shaken. Or maybe I just don't use it often enough to put it together as quickly as someone who does.

Blue Answers: Revealed and Explained

This is where I started to get involved. The clearest answer, in my opinion, was POKÉMON and WIKIPEDIA with PAYPAL and ROSEBUD, as they were all compound words that made more sense together from my perspective. However, that thought wasn't enough to help me solve the puzzle, as it's actually nothing like that. Unfortunately, I was close enough to get the right ideabut far enough away to make it much harder to hit.

Purple Answers: Revealed and Explained

The same reasons why the previous category was difficult are the same reasons why this one is difficult. A lot is going on with these words, and CHUM isn't as easy to identify as the rest, at least in the dialect I'm most familiar with. Even so, It's easy to be fooled by these wordsso it is understandable that this category would be particularly difficult today and that words could also be mixed in the previous category.

Other games like connections

Check out one of these other puzzles if you're still in the mood to play today.