Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for July 18, #403 [CNET]

Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections No. 403, for July 18.

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: Empty area.

Green group hint: Think Muhammad Ali.

Blue group hint: Bling.

Purple group hint: Smiley-face, thumbs-up, etc.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Open space.

Green group: Boxing unit.

Blue group: Glitziness.

Purple group: Emoji.

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 open space. The four answers are court, plaza, square and yard.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is boxing unit. The four answers are bout, contest, match and round.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is glitziness. The four answers are dazzle, flash, pomp and ritz.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is emoji. The four answers are fire, heart, skull and sparkles.

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.”