“Connections” March 18: Hints and answers for puzzle #646

Connections is a challenging word-based game that has proven to be a big hit, but it can often be tricky to solve.

Wyna Liu, who helped develop Connections and is a puzzle editor for The New York Times, previously told Newsweek that “the game has evolved with the solvers and responds to solvers’ experience and expectations.” She also noted that she sometimes “clusters” words together that may trick people into thinking they don’t belong with one another.

When it comes to creating the games themselves, Liu said, “I usually don’t know where a board is going to go” and revealed it takes “a long time to fudge things and try different angles.”

Keep scrolling for Newsweek‘s answers to game #646 but be warned. The answers to the brainteaser will also be revealed at the bottom of the page, so if you would like to work them out for yourself, we suggest you scroll carefully.

How To Play Connections

To win the game, players must successfully separate a table of 16 words into four categories based on a shared thread.

Each category is color-coded by difficulty, with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, then blue and then purple.

For example, in Monday’s game, the terms “abandon,” “freedom,” “spontaneity” and “unrestraint” were linked with the green category, “Uninhibitedness.”

Meanwhile, the blue category was “Kinds of trucks,” and the words associated with it were: “dump,” “garbage,” “monster” and “pickup.”

You’ll be pleased to hear there is no time limit to the game, though players only get four guesses before the answers will be shown on your screen.

Connections #646 Hints and Clues for Tuesday, March 18

Below are Newsweek‘s tips to help you with Tuesday’s game:

Yellow: Extraordinary

Green: German terms

Blue: Plural words that are the same as their singular forms

Purple: Plural words that are not the same as their singular forms

Connections #646 Answers for Tuesday, March 18

Yellow Category: EXCEPTIONAL

Yellow Words: Remarkable, Singular, Special, Unique

Green Category: GERMAN WORDS

Green Words: Angst, Die, Kinder, Wurst

Blue Category: PLURAL ANIMALS IDENTICAL TO THEIR SINGULAR FORMS

Blue Words: Deer, Sheep, Shrimp, Squid

Purple Category: PLURAL WORDS THAT ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM THEIR SINGULAR FORMS

Purple Words: Dice, Lice, Mice, Oxen

Fabulous job if you solved today’s puzzle correctly! If not, don’t worry. You will get another chance on Wednesday when a new game will be available for you to play.

Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone, so be sure to check back with Newsweek daily for more hints, clues and answers.

In the meantime, these other fun and challenging word-based games will keep your brain sharp.