New York Times reveals tips for today's crossword puzzle #909: Hints and solutions for Saturday, Dec. 6

Struggling with today's New York Times Connections puzzle? This round is a bit challenging, so here are some tips and hints to guide you through Puzzle #909. Dont worry about peekingthese games are meant to be tricky. Heres how the groups were solved: yellow, green, blue, purple.

How NYT Connections Works

NYT Connections is a challenging word game that presents 16 words in a 4x4 grid. Your task is to group them into four color-coded categories: yellow, green, blue, and purple. Yellow is usually the simplest to spot, while purple tends to be the most difficult.

Each group connects around a theme. For example, a blue group could be related to "buying a home" with words like appraisal, escrow, insurance, and mortgage. You have four chances to guess correctly before the answers are revealed. The game also provides hints through a lightbulb icon if needed.

Note: You can play only once per day, with the timer resetting at midnight.

Tips for Playing NYT Connections

• If an answer is wrong, notice the feedback at the top of the board. One away indicates only one word is misplacedre-evaluate which word fits better elsewhere.
• Shuffle the board freely to see different word combinations.
• Start with the yellow group. Its words often share obvious similarities, though some tricky words may fit multiple groups.
• If stuck, take a break and return later with a fresh perspective to avoid repeated mistakes.

Hints for Todays Puzzle

Here are some subtle hints for each group:

• Yellow group: Common and typical
• Green group: Words related to calming or moderating
• Blue group: Mostly animated Pixar movie titles
• Purple group: Words connected to reptiles and amphibians

One example word from each group:

• Yellow: Par
• Green: Settle
• Blue: Minion
• Purple: Newton

Group Names for Today

• Yellow: Norm
• Green: Mollify
• Blue: Member of a titular group in an animated franchise
• Purple: Starting with herpetofauna

Answers for Puzzle #909

Yellow group (Norm): average, mean, par, standard

Green group (Mollify): cool, moderate, settle, temper

Blue group (Member of a titular group in an animation franchise): car, incredible, minion, monster

Purple group (Starting with herpetofauna): adderall, monitorship, newton, toady

My Experience

I accidentally placed "moderate" in the yellow group and had to swap it with "mean." The purple group being reptile-themed was tricky, but it was a fun challenge!

Author: Harper Simmons