Need a little help with today’s Connections? These spoiler-safe hints get progressively stronger, with tap-to-reveal category titles and full answers when you’re ready.
Connections is the daily NYT word game that gives you 16 words and asks you to sort them into four groups of four, each tied together by a shared idea. If you want to play first, start here: New York Times Connections.
How to use this post: Read one hint, try a couple of groupings, and only open the reveals if you’re stuck. The last section contains full spoilers for all four categories.
Today’s 16 words (Puzzle #957):
A quick rule that saves mistakes: if a word feels like it can fit in two different groups, it’s probably a decoy for the hardest set. Try to lock in the “clean” set first, then come back to the ambiguous ones.
Spoiler-free hints
Hint 1: One group is made up of things you can point to on a person’s face without any wordplay.
Hint 2: Another group is about where a car ends up when you park it. The words aren’t synonyms — think “types” and “places.”
Hint 3: One category is straight-up measurements. If you’re thinking “old-school units,” you’re warm.
Hint 4: The final group is pure Connections mischief: each word can sit in front of the same common word to form familiar phrases.
Fast strategy (works on most grids):
- Look for the easiest “everyday” set and submit it first.
- Before you submit any set, quickly ask: could any of these words also fit the wordplay category?
- If you miss by one, swap out the word that has the most double meanings.
If you want a stronger nudge without the full answers, try this: park your face in imperial light.
Tap to reveal the category titles (no answers yet)
- Yellow: Facial features
- Green: Kinds of parking
- Blue: Imperial units
- Purple: Words before “LIGHT”
Tap to reveal the full answers for NYT Connections #957 (SPOILERS)
Yellow — Facial features
CHEEK, EYE, LIP, TEMPLE
Green — Kinds of parking
GARAGE, METER, STREET, VALET
Blue — Imperial units
ACRE, BUSHEL, FOOT, STONE
Purple — Words before “LIGHT”
FLOOD, LIME, PILOT, TRAFFIC
Purple is the classic trap here. If you read each candidate aloud followed by LIGHT, the right four suddenly sound “obvious.”
Want more daily puzzle help? Browse our archive here: Swikblog puzzle archive.
If today felt tricky, it’s because the grid blends three “straight” categories with one phrase-building category. That pattern shows up a lot, so training your eye to spot the wordplay set can cut your mistakes in half.
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