Today's Connections Hints (and Answer) for Wednesday, August 30

If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Wednesday, August 30, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for August 30, NYT Connections #80! Scroll to the end if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.

How to play Connections

I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:

First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).

Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.

You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

How to win Connections

The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.

If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.

Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints. Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And further down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?

You’ll find this puzzle a lot easier if you know a bit of ancient history and have ever played around with the formatting toolbar in Office.

Here are some definitions of lesser-known words in today’s puzzle:

Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle

Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:

Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?

Not today, which is rare! The groupings are all based on the meanings of the words. As always, there are a few words that can fit in more than one grouping depending on how you use the word (as a verb versus noun, for example).

Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.

BEWARE: Spoilers and answers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!

Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.

What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?

The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is PLAYGROUND FIXTURES and the words are: SANDBOX, SEESAW, SLIDE, SWING.

What are the green words in today’s Connections?

The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is INFLUENCE and the words are: CLOUT, PULL, SWAY, WEIGHT.

What are the blue words in today’s Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS and the words are: ANKH, CROOK, EYE, SCARAB.

What are the purple words in today’s Connections?

The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is FONTS and the words are: COURIER, IMPACT, PAPYRUS, TIMES.

How I solved today’s Connections

This one was a lot more straightforward for me than yesterday’s, but mostly because I am a nerd.

PAPYRUS stood out immediately, and I thought of the font, and look! Right there in the grid are TIMES, IMPACT, and COURIER. Four classic fonts (all popularized via Microsoft products, if I’m recalling my history right). I didn’t see any other fonts in the grid, so I made these my first guess, and was surprised to see it in purple—this is theoretically the hardest group on the board.

Next up I saw SEESAW, SWING, SLIDE, and SANDBOX. All playground equipment. I didn’t notice any other potential members of that grouping, so I submitted, and that was a hit for yellow (the easiest).

The Egyptian words stood out at me next. I suppose PAPYRUS could have thrown me if I hadn’t immediately lumped it in with fonts. ANKH and SCARAB are symbols used frequently in ancient Egyptian writing and art, and they’re also well known in popular culture. CROOK goes with them, since the crook and flail are symbols associated with Egyptian deities (particularly Osiris) and kings. It took me a minute to notice the last member of the group—the EYE of Horus.

That left CLOUT, PULL, SWAY, and WEIGHT, all terms for influence. I bet IMPACT was supposed to be a confounder for this category, but too late! I used it up earlier.