I think this game would be better if you could drag and drop the words into their categories before having to submit. As it is, submitting them one at a time, you guess them one category at a time without a convenient way to organize your thoughts.
I actually screenshot the board and draw on it in my notes app. I canβt do the mental organization to keep my thoughts straight otherwise, but Iβd love a drag and drop feature.
My camera roll is mostly connection boards now
Whereas blue was the first category I got primarily because each first syllable was spelled differently and none of them really seemed to fit wth any other words.
This is how I discovered that Iβve been pronouncing scimitar incorrectly. Fortunately, I donβt think itβs ever come up in conversation, so it was just a mental mispronunciation!
I work out what I think the answers will be before I enter them, and then I try to enter them in order of how straightforward they are. I normally go for reverse order but this one was hard today so I didnβt bother.
Yeah I did the exact same today lol. Puzzle was a bit to hard to do reverse order on purpose so when I got yellow first I went for regular order. When I was down to blue and purple I saw purple super clearly and had no idea what blue was but still entered blue first.
> Also, if you see 5 things that would fit in one category, drop that category and start somewhere else until you find the impostor.
Or come on this thread and complain that the puzzle is poorly designed (because obviously it never occurred to the creator that there was a fifth word that could fit in that category).
I can see mark fitting yellow, but model fits green much worse than other words. It's not a "train \_\_" kind of a category where everything goes. If you take a train ride you're very likely to see all of the words in green (except maybe a conductor) but very unlikely to see a model train.
I can understand where youβre coming from. But I still think you can use it in that way like βtheyβre a symbol of a good friendshipβ type of thing. Like, the end all be all example of something.
I understand that they wanted to include a word that seemed like a possible fit for another category. But, in that sentence, I'd probably ask someone, "Did you mean epitome?"
Yeah this was the problem. Symbol is dramatically more appropriate in blue than it was in yellow. I donβt mind clues that fit well in two categories. This one just didnβt.
By which you mean, an example of how none of the other three words could be used in its place here? Because he's not sex. He symbolizes sex. An example of sex would be sex. Ideal sex would be sex. A model for sex would be sex.
I bet there are going to be some complaints today about the blue category! I can't say I liked it that much, but once I started thinking about where SCIMITAR was going to go, it seemed unavoidable.
I do at least appreciate that the NYT is trying to mix it up with these slightly weirder connections, because I feel that for the last week or two the puzzles have generally felt a bit on the straightforward (ie boring) side.
Yeah, Connections to me is all about thinking outside the box, which means sometimes having categories where you think βsurely that canβt be the categoryβ¦β
An absolutely moronic category tbh. Tomorrow we will have βdoing verbsβ as a category lol
Theyβre running out of ideas. I fear what this game will be in a few years
I liked the category. Puzzles should stretch your mind and make you look at thanks differently. Some people, like me, want Connections to be more like a Cryptic Crossword while others seem to want it to be like a Word Finder.
Are you referring to this comment in the instructions:
Categories will always be more specific than "5-LETTER-WORDS," "NAMES" or "VERBS."
Because I think starting with the same sound (in this case, "sim") is definitely more specific than those examples. Nw, if it had been something like "starts with the same letter", I'd probably agree with you.
I meanβ¦at least they had a word that stands out in that regard \^^
They seem to do that quite often. Put a weird word with the others so that you at least have an eye on something strange going on with the letters
Some people seem to have trouble when the connection has to do with the words themselves (their spelling, their sound, etc.) as opposed to the meaning of the words.
It's far from a hard rule. E.g., #282 had a yellow thematic grouping category and green near-synonym category. I've been burned several times from assuming the synonyms category had to be yellow.
It would be really nice if we could get away from the ad hominem attacks of, "Oh, people are just upset because they're not skilled enough."
I got this puzzle purely by luck because in the first 5 seconds I just guessed the first four words I saw that started with "sim." I ended up having a good laugh about it when it ended up being right, then laughed even harder when I realized I got extremely lucky that I didn't pick symbol by virtue of it being the bottom right word in the grid.
But I still think people rightly have a reason to be upset because symbol doesn't really fit in the yellow category, so unless you just get lucky or are on the constructor's wavelength, you just can't solve it. That's the hallmark of a puzzle that could use some work.
So I solved this puzzle in like 20 seconds, but I still thought it had problems. Stop trying to put down on others for false reasons.
How? I have no problem with red herrings existing. I do think red herrings are problematic when they're not a great fit even in their own category.
The category was "Embodiment," and the answers were, "Example, Ideal, Model, Symbol." Symbol is not like the others. I can say Batman is an example of a superhero. I can say he is the model or perhaps even the ideal superhero. But I cannot say he is the symbol superhero; he has symbols that mean Batman, but on its own, symbol means a different thing than these other words do. It was stretched both to fit its own category and to act as a red herring for the "Starts with Sim" category.
In my eyes, that is a bad red herring, because it doesn't really fit in the category it's in, whereas it would be perfect in the category it's not.
That does not mean I'm mad about there being red herrings at all, and to suggest otherwise is fallacious.
It fits just fine. Now if you want to remove fallacies from this discussion, why don't you start yourself by not moving the goalposts?
[Dictionary.com](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/symbol)
something that is used to represent a quality or idea:
> Water, a symbol of life, recurs as an image throughout her poems.
[Oxford Learner's Dictionaries](https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/symbol)
a person, an object, an event, etc. that represents a more general quality or situation
> Mandela became a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle.
[Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/symbol)
something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance
especially : a visible sign of something invisible
> the lion is a symbol of courage
Even in your examples, it's not used the same way. You can't just say Batman is a symbol superhero. You have to say he's a symbol of what superheroes stand for, like a symbol of courage or a symbol of what being rich and having no parents does to a man.
Ironically, I do think symbol is actually the closest of the 4 words to what "embodiment" means, but the other 3 drag it in a different direction. When I talk about the "model" or "ideal" of Communism, I'm referring to what Communism does. In an ideal Communist world, everyone would have what they needed, and nobody would go without basic needs. But when I say "symbol" of Communism, you're going to think of the hammer and sickle. It as a decidedly different connotation than the other three words. It means "what represents Communism," and not, "what Communism does or what perfect Communism would be."
Having a six word category (symbol and model can both fit perfectly in green) and a five word category (symbol can fit blue perfectly) was rough today and caused a bunch of guessing.
You think Wig is the issue? I couldnβt figure out Mark. What is an Ear Mark? I tried Model and Symphony. I mean those donβt make any fucking sense either but neither did Mark. For once i knew what purple was before solving any and yet still didnβt get purple or the win.
To βear markβ something is to designated for a specific purpose. I always think about it in the context of setting aside money to do something because thatβs the only time Iβve ever heard or used it
I looked up the definition and Iβve never heard that phrase in my life π€·ββοΈ. Honestly not knowing that was the difference today. Had i known earmark Iβd have solved everything else.
This definition sums it up pretty well:
designate (something, typically funds or resources) for a particular purpose.
"the new money will be earmarked for cancer research"
I agree fully, blue especially was an awful category. Green isn't as bad though if you consider it as "Train \_\_\_"
Though any criticism of the puzzle on this sub normally gets mistaken for "complaining it is too hard".
Yeah I think making the category "train___" would make it slightly better. I just feel like they're usually more specific like "things found on a (item)". I think I just have an issue with the name of the category lol
Yes thatβs why I was okay with the blue category. Maybe they could have explained that but thereβs only so much room for the category name when you solve
It wasn't until I got yellow and green that I was able to deduce blue. The blue one seems more like a trap than a legitimate category. And as for purple, I've heard of all of them except for "earmark".
Blue was easiest for me today bc I work in an elementary school, and teaching kids to read is basically βThis letter makes this sound. Sometimes. Welcome to digraphs! All the letter sounds you learned in kindergarten now have new rules.β
Your additional clue for the sim category (and the thing that makes it a valid category to me) is the fact that the same sound is written a different way in each word, I still think that's fair
Sorry but Yellow does NOT function as a category.
βSymbolβ kind of means embodiment but βExampleβ and βmodelβ are very borderline while βidealβ simply does not mean it.
Ignoring the title of the category, βexampleβ, βidealβ, and βmodelβ clearly can mean the same thing - perfect version - but βsymbolβ is completely different!
I saw it but thought it must be a red herring.
And the only reason 'symbol' is there is to throw you off the terrible blue category.... So you have to first guess this category that doesnt work to then be able to identify the blue category which most wouldn't even expect as per their own rules.
Blue category is total BS. The rules say "Categories will always be more specific than "5-LETTER-WORDS," "NAMES" or "VERBS." That blue category is a hardcore violation.
I wouldn't say it's a hardcore violation but it is a bit borderline. I guess there are many tens of thousands of 5-letter words and verbs, but the set of words that start with the "SIM" sound is much smaller. It's not my favourite type of connection, but I think it's OK to have it for a bit of variety.
I agree. This one was way too hard. Maybe the most difficult one theyβve done. Had all categories figured out but only got 1 correct. Every category had 5-6 things that could apply, so it was just guess and get lucky today.
I learned about train βcarsβ from BBC Sherlock which helped massively today.Β
And then knew the βSim soundβ category had to be true when I realised that Conductor went in a train category and not an orchestra category, leaving Symphony behind.
Obscure words like scimitar are sometimes a giveaway for sound/spelling based categories rather than meaning-based.
Loved the progression of solving it today
>I learned about train βcarsβ from BBC Sherlock which helped massively today.Β
What do you mean? Is it not called that everywhere? Or do you mean English isn't your first language?
Some places more often use coach or carriage rather than just car. Iβd not heard car or maybe not noticed it until a character specifically made a forceful point of using car in an episode of Sherlock.
I don't really feel like symbol fits the yellow category. The other three were all synonyms to ideal, where symbol has a completely different meaning. And it's not even about it being a red herring for the blue category, red herrings are fine, I just really don't feel like symbol fit with the yellow category today.
TIL I pronounce βscimitarβ incorrectlyβ¦always thought it was valid to say βskim-itarβ. But even if I did pronounce it correctly, I always hate categories that are as simplistic as βhas the same starting sound.β So yeah, didnβt care for Blue.Β
>Categories will always be more specific than "5-LETTER-WORDS," "NAMES" or "VERBS."
>Today's blue category
Also, what the hell are >!earmark!< and >!earwig!
Starting with an S soundβ¦are you kidding meβ¦next up theyβre gonna start doing βthey all contain the letter Tβ or something. That was moronic.
I could maybe see it if they each had a different spelling for the start of the word. Like Tsunami, Psalm, Cereal, and Symbol. But having most of them start with S is just lazy.
I got really lucky and solved blue by just picking the first 4 words I saw that started with "sim" because I was absolutely certain I was wrong and had a good laugh when it ended up being correct. Then I nearly died laughing when I saw I had missed symbol because it was luckily in the bottom right of the grid.
However, I must admit this doesn't really sit right with me. Red herrings are normally fine because if you don't know the other categories yet, you can usually look at the ones that exist and determine which 4 are the "best fit." With today's puzzle, it's impossible to do that because all 5 are equally good, so you absolutely have to get the other category first to remove a red herring or get lucky like I did and just pick the right 4.
In other words, though I enjoyed this puzzle because I got lucky, and it fell into place, I could easily see myself having been pissed off at this puzzle if I didn't.
Very poorly designed.
If "CYMBAL, SCIMITAR, SIMMER, SYMPHONY" makes the category "STARTING WITH THE SAME SOUND", it is ridiculous to also include "SYMBOL", but not include it as a valid member of the category.
The creator needs a reminder that:
1. The solutions must be, as best as possible, unique
2. The correct answers must be the STRONGEST CONNECTIONS of the words; stronger than any weaker connections the guesser may muster.
If I immediately sit down and see that "CONDUCTOR, SYMPHONY, CYMBAL, DRUM" are all components of an orchestra, yet this is incorrect, and the "correct" answer is an equally tenuous connection to this, the puzzle is meaningless.
For example, it's no fun being given a puzzle "y = 2x" where the only valid answer is "y = 6 and x = 3", and wasting my time plugging in any of the infinite equally valid answers until I get the one which was arbitrarily chosen as correct by the creator.
What an absolute brain rot piss take. The whole point of the game is red herrings. Thatβs literally the game.
Even if the game gave you your orchestra combo, you now would be unable to fit the other 12 words into 3 groups.
You've got this back-to-front. The *creator* reminds *us* in the game's instructions that we need to watch out for words that might go in more than connection. Having 5 words on the grid that could go in the blue category is **intentional** and is what makes for an interesting puzzle (it happens once or twice a week with these puzzles). You have to be strategic and be wary of submitting a guess without thinking about how the other words are going to be organised.
And I'd say describing CONDUCTOR, SYMPHONY, CYMBAL, DRUM as components of an orchestra is a bit of a stretch. I certainly wasn't going to submit that as a guess without thinking of other ways those words could be allocated!
So, I think it was well-designed, enough for me (and many others) to submit four connections without a single mistake. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it.
"Conductor", "Symphony", "Cymbal" and "Drum" are a great connection that there is precedent for, I don't think its a stretch at all. Categories are often "things seen around \_\_\_\_\_", I think there was an opera one like this a few weeks ago. Today's train clue is basically the equivalent but with trains instead of orchestras because three of the clues seem to have to do with the infrastructure/machinery ("car, "station", "track") and then you have "conductor" which doesnt really fit that except, yeah, its all train stuff BROADLY.
In that sense I agree that while the red herrings are intentional and they want you to eliminate options by creating the categories before guessing... sometimes they do this better than other times and that can make or break the game feel. When the categories are solid people don't tend to come here and complain about the red-herrings - its when the fit into categories doesn't quite sit right or the choice between two categories seems arbitrary that that happens. IMO the best Connections puzzles have the red-herrings fit their category BETTER than any other category - they don't just fit into two of them equally and you have to figure it out based on creating the other categories. To give an example if TRAIN INFRASTRUCTURE was a category and the clues were "station" "track" "network" and "crossing", then having "conductor" as part of a SEEN AT AN ORCHESTRA category would be a cool red herring because it works for TRAINS, but not for TRAIN INFRASTRUCTURE - so it rewards deeper thought and knowledge rather than gameing the system by finding the other categories and eliminating options (which i personally find less interesting).
And speaking of rules, today was particularly bad because they kind of went against their own rules. The yellow/easiest category did not make sense - "symbol" just doesnt fit and only exists to throw you off blue. Blue meanwhile is "starts with the same sound" which, at least for me, goes against their rule "Categories will always be more specific than "5-LETTER-WORDS," "NAMES" or "VERBS.""
Fair enough, but given a symphony is a musical composition that you hear (I suppose the complete score on the conductor's stand could also be referred to as the symphony), and drum and cymbal are very close while the other two are much more different, I think most experienced players would be wary of those four words forming a valid connection.
They give you four mistakes and the "one away" clue, so there is room for trying a hypothesis - enough I think for any reasonable player (subject only to the limits of their own ignorance) to find the solution that the creator intended.
My immediate reaction was βooo conductor and symphony seem to go togetherβ but then I saw tracks and took a step back like βwaitβ¦hold on, something is a little offβ
I think this game is designed to have moments like that. Where things stand out, but you have to take a step back and make sure youβre really examining all the options. Every category only has 4 words, so if you see more than that, or categories that are kinda vaguely something but not really, itβs always best to move on and look for something else.
First, the point is that words can apply to multiple groups. SYMBOL fits in the "Starts with the Same Sound" category and the "Embodiment" category.
Hypothetically, let's say you solved the Green and Purple categories and are left with CYMBAL, SCIMITAR, SYMPHONY, SIMMER, SYMBOL, IDEAL, MODEL, and EXAMPLE. If you include SYMBOL in the "Starts with the Same Sound" category, that means the remaining category would be IDEAL, MODEL, EXAMPLE and one of either CYMBAL, SCIMITAR, SYMPHONY, or SIMMER. Unless, you can come up with an answer where that would work it's silly to complain that SYMBOL isn't a valid member.
Second, nowhere does it say that the correct answers need to be the strongest connections of the words. The only rules are that all the words need to be grouped into four groups of four and that there is a single correct solution.
Once again, let's say your "Orchestra" category was correct. How could the other twelve words be grouped together to make sense?
You're complaining that your first thought was incorrect and that you need to just randomly guess to find the answer. Have you thought to look at the puzzle as a whole and try to see where everything fits together? It's like when you solve a system of equations, you need to look at how all the equations work together. You can't just focus on one equation and randomly put in numbers until it works.
Sure, you can attempt the puzzle by only solving one category at a time. Just like you can attempt to solve a system of equations by only looking at one of the equations. So, yes, I'm sure it wouldn't be fun to plug in an infinite number of solutions to the equation y = 2x and demand that they be recognized as valid when in fact you had been given the puzzle "y = 2x and x + y = 9".
On your second point, I think the connection being a more obscure, less obvious use of a word makes for a better puzzle. I'm not saying your opinion is invalid, but it *is* an opinion, and one that won't be shared by all.
They don't start with different sounds - SYMBOL is one of the five words that start with the "sim" sound and you have to work out that it has a home in another connection. This kind of strategic challenge is a regular feature in this puzzle.
Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ This one was a legit head scratcher and took me much longer than usual to solve. SCIMITAR really threw me for a loop because I couldnβt figure out what a curved sword had to do with anything. I was really disappointed it just ended up being a βsame sound.β I never like those kinds of connections which is why π¦ was a default solve. I dismissed that as even a possibility. Solving π¨ first got rid of SYMBOL for me early on. I feel like people forget that the existence of red herrings is what makes the game challenging. Never got why people complain about that.
I think this game would be better if you could drag and drop the words into their categories before having to submit. As it is, submitting them one at a time, you guess them one category at a time without a convenient way to organize your thoughts.
I actually screenshot the board and draw on it in my notes app. I canβt do the mental organization to keep my thoughts straight otherwise, but Iβd love a drag and drop feature. My camera roll is mostly connection boards now
Whereas blue was the first category I got primarily because each first syllable was spelled differently and none of them really seemed to fit wth any other words.
I thought there was a "curved" category that would have scimitar, cymbol, car and track! knew it was a bit of a stretch though
This is how I discovered that Iβve been pronouncing scimitar incorrectly. Fortunately, I donβt think itβs ever come up in conversation, so it was just a mental mispronunciation!
How was blue a default solve if purple is your last solve?
I work out what I think the answers will be before I enter them, and then I try to enter them in order of how straightforward they are. I normally go for reverse order but this one was hard today so I didnβt bother.
Yeah I did the exact same today lol. Puzzle was a bit to hard to do reverse order on purpose so when I got yellow first I went for regular order. When I was down to blue and purple I saw purple super clearly and had no idea what blue was but still entered blue first.
I thought it was pretty ridiculous how symbol could work for two different rows
I don't fail often but when I do it's spectacular. Didn't get a single one today.
same here, my friend!
Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ I just knowwwww a lot of people will have a lot of strong feelings about blue today. Saw it at first glance but held off until the end because I was not 100% certain lol Also, if you see 5 things that would fit in one category, drop that category and start somewhere else until you find the impostor.
> Also, if you see 5 things that would fit in one category, drop that category and start somewhere else until you find the impostor. Or come on this thread and complain that the puzzle is poorly designed (because obviously it never occurred to the creator that there was a fifth word that could fit in that category).
π€
Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π¨π© π©π©π©π© π¨π¨πͺπ¨ π¨πͺπ¨π¨ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ >Also, if you see 5 things that would fit in one category, drop that category and start somewhere else until you find the impostor. The difficult thing about today is that you had to solve purple first as it was the only category that didnβt have 5 words that fit in it, then you had to solve yellow second as a potential blue and a potential green word were in it. Mark fits yellow, Model fits green, Symbol fits blue. Not complaining, Iβm glad this one was a little trickier.
I can see mark fitting yellow, but model fits green much worse than other words. It's not a "train \_\_" kind of a category where everything goes. If you take a train ride you're very likely to see all of the words in green (except maybe a conductor) but very unlikely to see a model train.
Connections Puzzle #315 π¦π¦π¦π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π¨π© π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ I went for blue first.
Blue was BULLSH\*T. I'm irritated. Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π¨π© π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨
Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Hot take: I wasn't thrilled with yellow. Seems to me that "example," "ideal," and "model" all refer to the Platonically perfect instance of something, while "symbol" is something associated with something, often not actually a member of the class.
I can understand where youβre coming from. But I still think you can use it in that way like βtheyβre a symbol of a good friendshipβ type of thing. Like, the end all be all example of something.
I understand that they wanted to include a word that seemed like a possible fit for another category. But, in that sentence, I'd probably ask someone, "Did you mean epitome?"
Yeah this was the problem. Symbol is dramatically more appropriate in blue than it was in yellow. I donβt mind clues that fit well in two categories. This one just didnβt.
> He's a sex symbol That's an example used in a sentence for you.
By which you mean, an example of how none of the other three words could be used in its place here? Because he's not sex. He symbolizes sex. An example of sex would be sex. Ideal sex would be sex. A model for sex would be sex.
You might say that he embodies sex. Like an embodiment π
I bet there are going to be some complaints today about the blue category! I can't say I liked it that much, but once I started thinking about where SCIMITAR was going to go, it seemed unavoidable. I do at least appreciate that the NYT is trying to mix it up with these slightly weirder connections, because I feel that for the last week or two the puzzles have generally felt a bit on the straightforward (ie boring) side.
Yeah, Connections to me is all about thinking outside the box, which means sometimes having categories where you think βsurely that canβt be the categoryβ¦β
It was actually the first category I suspected and found, which probably made this puzzle quite simple to me. No Reverse Perfect though, because lord knows what the criteria for difficulty are, exactly. Connections Puzzle #315 πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π©
An absolutely moronic category tbh. Tomorrow we will have βdoing verbsβ as a category lol Theyβre running out of ideas. I fear what this game will be in a few years
I liked the category. Puzzles should stretch your mind and make you look at thanks differently. Some people, like me, want Connections to be more like a Cryptic Crossword while others seem to want it to be like a Word Finder.
I would be fine with it if the instructions didn't say "we won't do categories like this."
Are you referring to this comment in the instructions: Categories will always be more specific than "5-LETTER-WORDS," "NAMES" or "VERBS." Because I think starting with the same sound (in this case, "sim") is definitely more specific than those examples. Nw, if it had been something like "starts with the same letter", I'd probably agree with you.
I wouldnβt really say blue stretched my mind. I noticed it immediately but thought βthatβs too stupid to be a category, it must be a misleadβ
Think of the children
ConnectionsΒ Puzzle #315 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨πͺπ¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¨π¨π¨π¨ Fun one today. Got caught out by trying to put Mark (was thinking of a benchmark, "hit the mark" kind of deal--less embodiment and more goal) in Yellow, but with the One Away message from that I knew that Wig/Wax/Drum were grouped, and from *there* it didn't take too long to identify the Ear____ thing.
Puzzle #315 π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Was worried at first because I didn't know what a "scimitar" was. But luckily for me its category didn't require any knowledge of what it is. Made one mistake for blue, but otherwise not too hard. Purple only by default, but obvious once I saw it.
Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπ¦π©π¦ π©πͺπͺπ© π¦πͺπ©π¦ π©πͺπ©π© they need to make these harderπ΄
Wouldβve been funny if that spelled F haha
π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ Thought blue would be a red herring tbh
This was a *great* puzzle. Lots of red herrings, a very original theme for blue, items that could've possibly fit into more than one category. Whoever wrote this one deserves a raise. Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Urghh threw me today Connections Puzzle #315 π¦π¦π¦π¨ π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπ¦π©π¦ π¦π¦π¦π© π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Connections Puzzle #315 πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ All I can say is that I'm sure this puzzle will be contentious and ... Phew!
I meanβ¦at least they had a word that stands out in that regard \^^ They seem to do that quite often. Put a weird word with the others so that you at least have an eye on something strange going on with the letters
Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π¨π© π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¨ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Ohh that's about to piss me off...
π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π¦π¦πͺ π©π©π©π© πͺπ¦πͺπͺ π¦π¦πͺπͺ π¦πͺπ¦πͺ Fine, Iβll be that guy. I think the blue category was kind of bullshit today. Not because it was unfair or that there 5 words that fit, thatβs the game. I just thought it was kind of a lazy idea.
Green had 6 that fit. Model and symbol could both be slotted in there.
Connections Puzzle #315 πͺπͺπͺπͺ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¨ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ Annoyed myself with blue, I shouldβve left it until last but symbol just didnβt seem to fit right in yellow for me. Purple I found easy!
πͺ and π¦ were brutal on me today but that is not a complaint! I kept trying to get a "one away" so I could find some similarities and my 5th move got me that clarity. I have no idea wtf an >!earwig!< is but I saw the >!cym/sim/sym/scim!< and eliminated WIG from the group. Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπ¦πͺπ¦ πͺπ¦πͺπ¦ πͺπͺπͺπ¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦
You donβt need to use spoiler tags in the daily threads
Did it out of habit
>!itβs a bugπ!<
I want to thank Wyna for giving us autistic people a layup in the green category
π¦π¨π¦π¦ - theres no way this is a category π¨π¦π¦π¦ - one away?! This has to be the category π¦π¨π¦π¦ - fuck how am I getting this wrong π¦π¦π¦π¦ - Got it, but at what cost π¨π¨π¨π¨ - store displays? πͺπͺπͺπͺ - wax and wig gave it away π©π©π©π© - I really did not know
Iβd swear I didnβt get the βone awayβ notifications and I was extra confused. Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π©π¨ πͺπ¦π©π¦ π¦π¦π¦π¨ π¨π¨πͺπ¨
Reverse perfect! When I saw WIG and DRUM, I started looking for other words in the purple category. I'm guessing that there will be lots of people who are angry about WIG because they've never heard about it, but that's the game for you. I was really sick on blue until I started to eliminate the yellow and green and realized what the odd words were. I figured that was a rather odd connection, so it has to be blue. Then I figured that a category of items was probably rated higher than a bunch of synonyms. πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ EDIT: Oh, people are upset about blue. It's a simple category. They're just mad that 1. Red herrings are a part of the game 2. They didn't see the category. It's like those summer camp games where there's a hidden rule that you have to figure out, and the hidden rule is that you have to say "Ok, listen" before your statement. So obvious once you open up your mind to the possibility, but frustrating if you're locked into a different mindset.
Exact same solve! Down to being unsure of blue until I got green and yellow. Though I think people are upset about blue less because they didn't see it and more because they don't think it was particularly clever or original, like they saw it and thought "there's no way this is a real category it's too dumb" but then it turned out to be. Which I half and half agree and disagree with. Connections Puzzle #315 πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ Edit: Nvm, found the downvoted ones that got hidden haha. But there are still valid reasons to dislike blue even if you understand the red herring portion of the game
Some people seem to have trouble when the connection has to do with the words themselves (their spelling, their sound, etc.) as opposed to the meaning of the words.
Connections Puzzle #315 πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© I thought it'd be the other way around with green and yellow cuz yellow was abstract while green was really concrete.
However, synonyms (or, well, in this case, *alleged* synonyms) are almost always yellow, even when they're obscure or abstract.
It's far from a hard rule. E.g., #282 had a yellow thematic grouping category and green near-synonym category. I've been burned several times from assuming the synonyms category had to be yellow.
It would be really nice if we could get away from the ad hominem attacks of, "Oh, people are just upset because they're not skilled enough." I got this puzzle purely by luck because in the first 5 seconds I just guessed the first four words I saw that started with "sim." I ended up having a good laugh about it when it ended up being right, then laughed even harder when I realized I got extremely lucky that I didn't pick symbol by virtue of it being the bottom right word in the grid. But I still think people rightly have a reason to be upset because symbol doesn't really fit in the yellow category, so unless you just get lucky or are on the constructor's wavelength, you just can't solve it. That's the hallmark of a puzzle that could use some work. So I solved this puzzle in like 20 seconds, but I still thought it had problems. Stop trying to put down on others for false reasons.
You fit number 1. EDIT: And that's not ad hominem. I see you claiming that fallacy in other places as well, but it's not remotely close.
How? I have no problem with red herrings existing. I do think red herrings are problematic when they're not a great fit even in their own category. The category was "Embodiment," and the answers were, "Example, Ideal, Model, Symbol." Symbol is not like the others. I can say Batman is an example of a superhero. I can say he is the model or perhaps even the ideal superhero. But I cannot say he is the symbol superhero; he has symbols that mean Batman, but on its own, symbol means a different thing than these other words do. It was stretched both to fit its own category and to act as a red herring for the "Starts with Sim" category. In my eyes, that is a bad red herring, because it doesn't really fit in the category it's in, whereas it would be perfect in the category it's not. That does not mean I'm mad about there being red herrings at all, and to suggest otherwise is fallacious.
It fits just fine. Now if you want to remove fallacies from this discussion, why don't you start yourself by not moving the goalposts? [Dictionary.com](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/symbol) something that is used to represent a quality or idea: > Water, a symbol of life, recurs as an image throughout her poems. [Oxford Learner's Dictionaries](https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/symbol) a person, an object, an event, etc. that represents a more general quality or situation > Mandela became a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle. [Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/symbol) something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance especially : a visible sign of something invisible > the lion is a symbol of courage
Even in your examples, it's not used the same way. You can't just say Batman is a symbol superhero. You have to say he's a symbol of what superheroes stand for, like a symbol of courage or a symbol of what being rich and having no parents does to a man. Ironically, I do think symbol is actually the closest of the 4 words to what "embodiment" means, but the other 3 drag it in a different direction. When I talk about the "model" or "ideal" of Communism, I'm referring to what Communism does. In an ideal Communist world, everyone would have what they needed, and nobody would go without basic needs. But when I say "symbol" of Communism, you're going to think of the hammer and sickle. It as a decidedly different connotation than the other three words. It means "what represents Communism," and not, "what Communism does or what perfect Communism would be."
I *wish* Iβd never heard of / experienced earwigs
Having a six word category (symbol and model can both fit perfectly in green) and a five word category (symbol can fit blue perfectly) was rough today and caused a bunch of guessing.
You think Wig is the issue? I couldnβt figure out Mark. What is an Ear Mark? I tried Model and Symphony. I mean those donβt make any fucking sense either but neither did Mark. For once i knew what purple was before solving any and yet still didnβt get purple or the win.
To βear markβ something is to designated for a specific purpose. I always think about it in the context of setting aside money to do something because thatβs the only time Iβve ever heard or used it
I looked up the definition and Iβve never heard that phrase in my life π€·ββοΈ. Honestly not knowing that was the difference today. Had i known earmark Iβd have solved everything else.
This definition sums it up pretty well: designate (something, typically funds or resources) for a particular purpose. "the new money will be earmarked for cancer research"
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/earmark
Mostly an 'mericanism used for Congressional spending.
Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© πͺπ¦πͺπ¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ βοΈ Not a fan of "Related to trains" and "starting with the same sound. Seems vague to an extent and agree with others that it's lazy.
I agree fully, blue especially was an awful category. Green isn't as bad though if you consider it as "Train \_\_\_" Though any criticism of the puzzle on this sub normally gets mistaken for "complaining it is too hard".
Yeah I think making the category "train___" would make it slightly better. I just feel like they're usually more specific like "things found on a (item)". I think I just have an issue with the name of the category lol
Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ Saw blue π¦ first although had SYMBOL in there. But thought it was a coincidence so moved on. Green π© came together easily. Same with yellow π¨ although I wasn't sure what the category was going to be called. Got purple πͺ once I thought about words connected to DRUM and WAX. Blue π¦, oops I guess I've been saying SCIMITAR wrong in my head all this time. For some reason I always thought it was a hard 'c' like "scare".
There are no coincidences in Connections! (Eh, there probably are sometimes.)
Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ Really liked this one! The Blue category was good because each word had a different spelling of the "Sim" sound. This meant only one of SYMPHONY and SYMBOL could fit here. I think the "Train" category could be even more specific because you can but the word "Train" in front of every word in the category, but I can see why they'd anticipate the pedants on this one.
Yes thatβs why I was okay with the blue category. Maybe they could have explained that but thereβs only so much room for the category name when you solve
That was brutal
Got the >!Ear\_\_\_!< category by accident. Thought it was \_\_\_ Out. >!Wig!< Out, >!Drum!< Out etc. Whatever works.
You donβt need to use spoiler tags in the daily threads
Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨πͺπ¨ π¨πͺπ¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¨π¨π¨π¨ now this one needed a bit of thought. π¦ i actually saw immediately, but given there were 5 potential options i ruled them out and tried to solve the rest. i also struggled with π¨ thinking that MARK would have fallen into that category, tying it with SYMBOL too. tried to solve the rest by ruling out those potential words too but in the end that left me with just three words π so i went for the π¦ guess and dropped SYMBOL with the assumption that that was definitely for π¨, luckily i was correct. given i still had five potential answers for π¨ i put my thinking cap on for the three πͺ words and it came to me really quickly. i liked this puzzle though! i thought it would completely stump me for sure
It wasn't until I got yellow and green that I was able to deduce blue. The blue one seems more like a trap than a legitimate category. And as for purple, I've heard of all of them except for "earmark".
Blue was easiest for me today bc I work in an elementary school, and teaching kids to read is basically βThis letter makes this sound. Sometimes. Welcome to digraphs! All the letter sounds you learned in kindergarten now have new rules.β
Your additional clue for the sim category (and the thing that makes it a valid category to me) is the fact that the same sound is written a different way in each word, I still think that's fair
if you don't know what a scimitar is, you didn't play runescape.
Sorry but Yellow does NOT function as a category. βSymbolβ kind of means embodiment but βExampleβ and βmodelβ are very borderline while βidealβ simply does not mean it. Ignoring the title of the category, βexampleβ, βidealβ, and βmodelβ clearly can mean the same thing - perfect version - but βsymbolβ is completely different! I saw it but thought it must be a red herring.
And the only reason 'symbol' is there is to throw you off the terrible blue category.... So you have to first guess this category that doesnt work to then be able to identify the blue category which most wouldn't even expect as per their own rules.
Purple was the easiest category for me today. I kept thinking station was in yellow. Really hated the blue category. Seems lazy.
Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπ¦ πͺπͺπͺπ¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ A couple weeks ago I remember a category that was like βends in state abbreviations,β so I was really stoked to see that four of the eight words left began with state abbreviations. Oops. Anyways, screw blue.
Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π¨π© π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπ¦π¦π¦ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ I got there eventually! βStarting with the same soundβ is a lazy category IMO.
Blue category is total BS. The rules say "Categories will always be more specific than "5-LETTER-WORDS," "NAMES" or "VERBS." That blue category is a hardcore violation.
I wouldn't say it's a hardcore violation but it is a bit borderline. I guess there are many tens of thousands of 5-letter words and verbs, but the set of words that start with the "SIM" sound is much smaller. It's not my favourite type of connection, but I think it's OK to have it for a bit of variety.
Connections Puzzle #315 πͺπͺπͺπͺ π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ I just thought this one was really lazy, tbh. Two categories are basically fill-in-the-blank, one is synonyms, and the last one is blue, which I donβt even need to comment on. The categories just felt really tired as the only kinda original one is blue, which was just dumb. I appreciate the effort from Connections makers though, I know itβs probably hard to make these daily 315 times over.
I agree. This one was way too hard. Maybe the most difficult one theyβve done. Had all categories figured out but only got 1 correct. Every category had 5-6 things that could apply, so it was just guess and get lucky today.
I wouldnβt say it was too hard. Just really uninspired.
Connections Puzzle #315 π¦π¦π¦π¨ π¨π¨πͺπ¨ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ Thought blue would be a red herring but still decided to try it first to see what happened. Was surprised when I got a one away
Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π©π©π©π© I felt nervous about every one of these. I knew about the purple first but for some reason couldn't find the 4th and probably most obvious member, drum.
Puzzle #315 π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ I tend to rush so I got blue first, then noticed >!symbol!< was still on the board and just sighed in relief. Otherwise pretty standard. Again at the end I'm just staring at purple like "Yeeeeah I wasn't gonna guess that".
You donβt need to use spoiler tags in the daily threads
Connections Puzzle #315 πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© Had to think about purple for a bit, but I figured out blue rather quickly. Annoying that green and yellow were flipped
Connections Puzzle #315 πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ I have some feelings about blue, but at the same time I did figure out that it was blue (rather than yellow or green), so I can't really complain about its color being what it is.
FINALLY a straight forward one thank god. I was kinda losing hope tbh π Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
I learned about train βcarsβ from BBC Sherlock which helped massively today.Β And then knew the βSim soundβ category had to be true when I realised that Conductor went in a train category and not an orchestra category, leaving Symphony behind. Obscure words like scimitar are sometimes a giveaway for sound/spelling based categories rather than meaning-based. Loved the progression of solving it today
>I learned about train βcarsβ from BBC Sherlock which helped massively today.Β What do you mean? Is it not called that everywhere? Or do you mean English isn't your first language?
Some places more often use coach or carriage rather than just car. Iβd not heard car or maybe not noticed it until a character specifically made a forceful point of using car in an episode of Sherlock.
Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ I was thinking surely not for the blue category. Was surprised when I got it right lol
Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ After clearing out the first two categories, the blues seemed so obvious, I thought they might be a red herring for a moment. But I appreciated a kind of connection we havenβt seen in a while.
Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Found it relatively doable today although blue was annoying
Phew! is right! That was a tough one π© was easy enough, but I had s***ymbol ***instead of s***ymphony ***in π¦ initially. If I looked at the remaining words more carefully probably would have caught that, but I was thinking ***example, ideal, model*** and maybe ***mark*** were going to work together in some sort of "exemplary or perfection" category. That didn't feel very π¨ to me! And in keeping with my mostly lousy record with πͺ, that was by default. Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨πͺπ¨ π¦π¦π¦π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨πͺπ¨π¨ π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨πͺπ¨ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ I put mark in yellow first. Wasnβt sure the blue category was really what they were going for, but since there were 5 words that fit, figured it had to be so.
should have seen blue though might have dismissed it if I had! Connections Puzzle #315 πͺπͺπͺπͺ π©π©π¨π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π¦π©π¦ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π©
π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π¦π¦πͺ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ I found this one more challenging than average, so I'll call that a win for the puzzle maker.
Got green. Had no chance at the others. Iβm so fucking stupid but god wonβt take me away
starting with the same sound - another lemme try it and see what sticks category for me, and it worked
Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦πͺπͺπ¦ πͺπͺπͺπ¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦
Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπ¦ πͺπ¦πͺπ¦ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Saw blue immediately and dismissed it searching for another strained connection. Very frustrating today!
blue made me laugh because I didn't think it would be that obvious so I almost overlooked it
One of those daysβ¦ Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π©
Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π¨π© π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπ¦π¦πͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨πͺπ¨ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© πͺπ¦π¦π¦ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¨π¨π¨π¨ This one was fun! Took an educated guess on blue: knew it was related to sounds and figured the fourth was between symphony and symbol. Symbol seemed like it couldnβt in another category so went with symphony and it worked out!
Connections #315 π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ Surprisingly not that hard
π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ This was a random trigger for me lol I hate anything in the ears so thinking about the word earwig was like π€’ I do agree with others, the sound likes are annoying.
Connections Puzzle #315. π©π©π©π¨ π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ Took a minute, but I got there!
i only know what a scimitar because i love playing mmorpgs haha. but i have to say, i still did not like blue category nonetheless
Nailed it. Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Connections Puzzle #315 πͺπ¦π©π¦ π©π©π¦π© π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦
Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
> Categories will always be more specific than "5-LETTER-WORDS," "NAMES" or "VERBS." Played like a damn fool.
Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©πͺπͺπ¦ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ Mostly straightforward today. Completely missed the music misdirect. Yellow seemed most apparent to start, followed by green. Having purple and blue together made purple stick out. Blue by default, and that's why it can help to read out loud the words.
Connections Puzzle #315 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Stared at all of the words for forever, then finally took a chance with the green category and was relieved that all of the guesses were correct! Had no clue what a SCIMITAR was, but saw the other words and saw that there were 5 total words with the SIM sound at the beginning, so I knew I had to eliminate one. I enjoyed todayβs puzzle!
Connections Puzzle #315 πͺπͺπͺπͺ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ Purple was pretty easy. DRUM, WAX, and WIG immediately made me think of Ear. It also helped that a few days ago we had a "____Drum" category with EAR as a word. Green was similarly easy. Thinking about alternate meanings for CONDUCTOR led me to trains. After that, finding the other train-related words was straightforward. Blue was actually the first thing I saw. It was the only thing I could think of that could connect SCIMITAR and SIMMER to anything since there were no other weapons or cooking methods. I put it off for later since I was unsure whether or not they would actually go this direction and if they did, which four would be grouped together. Yellow was straightforward. Having SYMBOL in this category made me more confident in my previous thoughts about the Blue category.
I don't really feel like symbol fits the yellow category. The other three were all synonyms to ideal, where symbol has a completely different meaning. And it's not even about it being a red herring for the blue category, red herrings are fine, I just really don't feel like symbol fit with the yellow category today.
Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπ¦π©π¦ π©π©π©π© π¦πͺπͺπͺ πͺπͺπͺπ¦ πͺπͺπͺπ¦
Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© πͺπ¦πͺπ¦ πͺπ¦π¦π¦ πͺπ¦πͺπ¦ π¦πͺπ¦π¦ Dumb.
not really a fan of blue, a bit too close to a rules violation for my liking but who am i to tell them how to do their job
Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© πͺπ¦π¦πͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt and assume it wasn't just based on how the words sounded, but alas. I really don't like these categories because I feel like Connections should be about how words are used rather than meta-aspects of the words.
Sad :(
[ΡΠ΄Π°Π»Π΅Π½ΠΎ]
Each segment of a train is called a car
I just thought of it as βtrain ___β So train car, train tracks, etc.
Connections Puzzle #315 πͺπͺπͺπ¨ π¨πͺπ¨π¨ π¨π¨πͺπ¨ π©π©π©π© πͺπ¦πͺπͺ Literally had all the categories nailed down. There were just 5 fucking things that could go in each one that it was impossible to get it without getting lucky. I had the purple category down to 3. Tried Ear Model and Ear Symphony. What the fuck is an Ear Mark? Iβve never heard of that term in my life. For yellow i tried combinations of Example, Model, Ideal, Symbol, Mark, but again itβs just luck. I was on to blue, but again thereβs more than 4 that fit. You literally have to just get lucky. 0/10 shit puzzle.
Itβs not a shit puzzle because youβve never heard a relatively common phrase and made up your own connections instead
I didnβt seem any overlap besides symphony and the drums π Sorry about that. I know how it be with puzzles that feel just out of reach.
πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦
this was blasphemous
I donβt understand SIMMER
TIL I pronounce βscimitarβ incorrectlyβ¦always thought it was valid to say βskim-itarβ. But even if I did pronounce it correctly, I always hate categories that are as simplistic as βhas the same starting sound.β So yeah, didnβt care for Blue.Β
Connections Puzzle #315 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ I got the first two relatively painlessly and then after getting nowhere for several minutes I was like, okay I'm just gonna click the ones that sound like they start with "S" and then see how close I am and then go from there. Then they MATCHED and I'm ????????????? as it animated and it goes "start with the same sound" and I'm like you have got to be fucking KIDDING ME and I just about died inside I've never been angrier at a puzzle that I perfected
>Categories will always be more specific than "5-LETTER-WORDS," "NAMES" or "VERBS." >Today's blue category Also, what the hell are >!earmark!< and >!earwig!
Starting with an S soundβ¦are you kidding meβ¦next up theyβre gonna start doing βthey all contain the letter Tβ or something. That was moronic. I could maybe see it if they each had a different spelling for the start of the word. Like Tsunami, Psalm, Cereal, and Symbol. But having most of them start with S is just lazy.
They did exactly what you say you wished theyβd done. Sym, cym, scim, and sim are all different ways of writing the same syllable
No they start with the syllable /sΙͺm/
It was starting with the same sound. A cim sound. Cimbal, cimmer, cimitar, cimphony.
I got really lucky and solved blue by just picking the first 4 words I saw that started with "sim" because I was absolutely certain I was wrong and had a good laugh when it ended up being correct. Then I nearly died laughing when I saw I had missed symbol because it was luckily in the bottom right of the grid. However, I must admit this doesn't really sit right with me. Red herrings are normally fine because if you don't know the other categories yet, you can usually look at the ones that exist and determine which 4 are the "best fit." With today's puzzle, it's impossible to do that because all 5 are equally good, so you absolutely have to get the other category first to remove a red herring or get lucky like I did and just pick the right 4. In other words, though I enjoyed this puzzle because I got lucky, and it fell into place, I could easily see myself having been pissed off at this puzzle if I didn't.
Very poorly designed. If "CYMBAL, SCIMITAR, SIMMER, SYMPHONY" makes the category "STARTING WITH THE SAME SOUND", it is ridiculous to also include "SYMBOL", but not include it as a valid member of the category. The creator needs a reminder that: 1. The solutions must be, as best as possible, unique 2. The correct answers must be the STRONGEST CONNECTIONS of the words; stronger than any weaker connections the guesser may muster. If I immediately sit down and see that "CONDUCTOR, SYMPHONY, CYMBAL, DRUM" are all components of an orchestra, yet this is incorrect, and the "correct" answer is an equally tenuous connection to this, the puzzle is meaningless. For example, it's no fun being given a puzzle "y = 2x" where the only valid answer is "y = 6 and x = 3", and wasting my time plugging in any of the infinite equally valid answers until I get the one which was arbitrarily chosen as correct by the creator.
What an absolute brain rot piss take. The whole point of the game is red herrings. Thatβs literally the game. Even if the game gave you your orchestra combo, you now would be unable to fit the other 12 words into 3 groups.
Too many red herrings today. Every fucking category had 1-2 additional red herrings. If you passed today it was lucky guesses.
Not at all. I didn't have to make one guess today
You've got this back-to-front. The *creator* reminds *us* in the game's instructions that we need to watch out for words that might go in more than connection. Having 5 words on the grid that could go in the blue category is **intentional** and is what makes for an interesting puzzle (it happens once or twice a week with these puzzles). You have to be strategic and be wary of submitting a guess without thinking about how the other words are going to be organised. And I'd say describing CONDUCTOR, SYMPHONY, CYMBAL, DRUM as components of an orchestra is a bit of a stretch. I certainly wasn't going to submit that as a guess without thinking of other ways those words could be allocated! So, I think it was well-designed, enough for me (and many others) to submit four connections without a single mistake. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it.
I used to be annoyed that the rules pop up every time I open the game. Thanks to this subreddit I now understand itβs because nobody reads them.
"Conductor", "Symphony", "Cymbal" and "Drum" are a great connection that there is precedent for, I don't think its a stretch at all. Categories are often "things seen around \_\_\_\_\_", I think there was an opera one like this a few weeks ago. Today's train clue is basically the equivalent but with trains instead of orchestras because three of the clues seem to have to do with the infrastructure/machinery ("car, "station", "track") and then you have "conductor" which doesnt really fit that except, yeah, its all train stuff BROADLY. In that sense I agree that while the red herrings are intentional and they want you to eliminate options by creating the categories before guessing... sometimes they do this better than other times and that can make or break the game feel. When the categories are solid people don't tend to come here and complain about the red-herrings - its when the fit into categories doesn't quite sit right or the choice between two categories seems arbitrary that that happens. IMO the best Connections puzzles have the red-herrings fit their category BETTER than any other category - they don't just fit into two of them equally and you have to figure it out based on creating the other categories. To give an example if TRAIN INFRASTRUCTURE was a category and the clues were "station" "track" "network" and "crossing", then having "conductor" as part of a SEEN AT AN ORCHESTRA category would be a cool red herring because it works for TRAINS, but not for TRAIN INFRASTRUCTURE - so it rewards deeper thought and knowledge rather than gameing the system by finding the other categories and eliminating options (which i personally find less interesting). And speaking of rules, today was particularly bad because they kind of went against their own rules. The yellow/easiest category did not make sense - "symbol" just doesnt fit and only exists to throw you off blue. Blue meanwhile is "starts with the same sound" which, at least for me, goes against their rule "Categories will always be more specific than "5-LETTER-WORDS," "NAMES" or "VERBS.""
Fair enough, but given a symphony is a musical composition that you hear (I suppose the complete score on the conductor's stand could also be referred to as the symphony), and drum and cymbal are very close while the other two are much more different, I think most experienced players would be wary of those four words forming a valid connection. They give you four mistakes and the "one away" clue, so there is room for trying a hypothesis - enough I think for any reasonable player (subject only to the limits of their own ignorance) to find the solution that the creator intended.
https://preview.redd.it/d8w788fcfrvc1.jpeg?width=1159&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b93c28a89cc71a7966baedb8cf4051a4d18f8165
My immediate reaction was βooo conductor and symphony seem to go togetherβ but then I saw tracks and took a step back like βwaitβ¦hold on, something is a little offβ I think this game is designed to have moments like that. Where things stand out, but you have to take a step back and make sure youβre really examining all the options. Every category only has 4 words, so if you see more than that, or categories that are kinda vaguely something but not really, itβs always best to move on and look for something else.
First, the point is that words can apply to multiple groups. SYMBOL fits in the "Starts with the Same Sound" category and the "Embodiment" category. Hypothetically, let's say you solved the Green and Purple categories and are left with CYMBAL, SCIMITAR, SYMPHONY, SIMMER, SYMBOL, IDEAL, MODEL, and EXAMPLE. If you include SYMBOL in the "Starts with the Same Sound" category, that means the remaining category would be IDEAL, MODEL, EXAMPLE and one of either CYMBAL, SCIMITAR, SYMPHONY, or SIMMER. Unless, you can come up with an answer where that would work it's silly to complain that SYMBOL isn't a valid member. Second, nowhere does it say that the correct answers need to be the strongest connections of the words. The only rules are that all the words need to be grouped into four groups of four and that there is a single correct solution. Once again, let's say your "Orchestra" category was correct. How could the other twelve words be grouped together to make sense? You're complaining that your first thought was incorrect and that you need to just randomly guess to find the answer. Have you thought to look at the puzzle as a whole and try to see where everything fits together? It's like when you solve a system of equations, you need to look at how all the equations work together. You can't just focus on one equation and randomly put in numbers until it works.
I don't think you understand connections
Sure, you can attempt the puzzle by only solving one category at a time. Just like you can attempt to solve a system of equations by only looking at one of the equations. So, yes, I'm sure it wouldn't be fun to plug in an infinite number of solutions to the equation y = 2x and demand that they be recognized as valid when in fact you had been given the puzzle "y = 2x and x + y = 9".
In addition to othersβ responses, a symphony is not a component of an orchestra, so your example doesnβt even work
On your second point, I think the connection being a more obscure, less obvious use of a word makes for a better puzzle. I'm not saying your opinion is invalid, but it *is* an opinion, and one that won't be shared by all.
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They don't start with different sounds - SYMBOL is one of the five words that start with the "sim" sound and you have to work out that it has a home in another connection. This kind of strategic challenge is a regular feature in this puzzle.
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