Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for August 1, #417 [CNET]

Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections No. 417, for August 1.

Need the answers for the New York Times Connections puzzle? To me, Wordle is more of a vocabulary test, but Connections is more of a brainteaser. You’re given 16 words and asked to put them into four groups that are somehow connected. Sometimes they’re obvious, but game editor Wyna Liu knows how to trick you by using words that can fit into more than one group. Read on for today’s Connections hints and answers.

Want more game answers? Here’s the Wordle answer for today, and here’s the answer for Strands. And do you solve the NYT Mini Crossword? Here’s today’s answer for that.

Read more: NYT Connections Could Be the New Wordle: Our Hints and Tips

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest, yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: To talk up something.

Green group hint: What a baseball pitcher does.

Blue group hint: Inside Barnes & Noble.

Purple group hint: Not shoes, but…

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Promote.

Green group: Throw

Blue group: Bookstore sections.

Purple group: Socks.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is promote. The four answers are hype, market, pitch and sell.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is throw. The four answers are cast, chuck, fling and hurl.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is bookstore sections. The four answers are fiction, humor, romance and travel.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is socks. The four answers are ankle, crew, sweat and tube.

How to play Connections

Playing is easy. Winning is hard. Look at the 16 words and mentally assign them to related groups of four. Click on the four words you think go together. The groups are coded by color, though you don’t know what goes where until you see the answers. The yellow group is the easiest, then green, then blue, and purple is the toughest. Look at the words carefully and think about related terms. Sometimes the connection has to do with just a part of the word. Once, four words were grouped because each started with the name of a rock band, including “Rushmore” and “Journeyman.”