CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper provides hints and answers for Connections No. 392 on July 7. She is a journalist and pop-culture enthusiast, known for her work on ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s pop culture. Gael has been in the journalism field since 1989 and has worked for various publications and news outlets. She is an expert in breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping, product reviews, money, finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, and generational studies.
For those looking for the answers to the New York Times Connections puzzle, Gael suggests that Wordle is more of a vocabulary test, while Connections is a brainteaser involving grouping 16 words into four connected groups. Gael warns that the game editor, Wyna Liu, knows how to trick players by using words that can fit into multiple groups. Gael also provides hints for today’s Connections groups, starting from the easiest yellow group to the challenging purple group.
The yellow group hint relates to changing states of matter, with answers like condense, freeze, melt, and vaporize. The green group’s theme is replacement, with answers like alternate, backup, cover, and sub. The blue group focuses on slangy names for professions, with answers like copper, hack, shrink, and suit. The purple group theme revolves around Mariah Carey number one hits, with answers like Fantasy, Hero, Honey, and Someday.
Gael emphasizes that playing Connections is easy, but winning can be challenging. Players need to mentally assign the 16 words to related groups of four and click on the words they believe go together. The groups are color-coded, with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple as the toughest. Sometimes the connection between words can be based on just a part of the word, as Gael mentions a previous instance where words were grouped because they all started with the names of rock bands.
In addition to providing hints and answers for the Connections puzzle, Gael also mentions today’s Wordle answer and hints, along with general tips for Strands, a new game from the New York Times Games app. With Gael’s expertise in various pop culture topics and her experience as a journalist, readers can rely on her insights to enhance their puzzle-solving skills and gaming experience.
