NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, December 20

Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to the weekend!

This week, I learned about the Southeast Asian sport of Sepak takraw. It’s a bit like volleyball but players can’t use their arms to control the ball. From my understanding, all other body parts are fair game, including the legs and feet.

I’ve watched a few videos of the sport and there’s some absolutely wild body control on display. Seeing players leap up and use their feet to spike the ball is absurd. This is some of the most incredible athleticism I’ve seen this side of Scott McTominay:

Before we begin, we have a great little community on Discord, where we chat about NYT Connections, the rest of the NYT games and all kinds of other stuff. Everyone who has joined has been lovely. It’s a fun hangout spot, and you’re more than welcome to join us.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, December 20 are coming right up. Let’s get rolling!

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

• CURE

• TIN

• BOTTOM

• SALT

• LOBSTER

• FOLD

• FALL

• DRY

• BUCKET

• CLASH

• PRESS

• DRUM

• WASH

• CAN

• DAMNED

• MUSIC

The level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

• 🟨 Yellow group — they're very good at holding things captive

• 🟩 Green group — what might happen when you take your unclean fabrics somewhere

• 🟦 Blue group — adverts, stooges and (boringly) band would fit in here

• 🟪 Purple group — like star, show and climb

One Word For Each Connections Group

Be warned: we’re really starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

• 🟨 Yellow group — DRUM

• 🟩 Green group — PRESS

• 🟦 Blue group — FALL

• 🟪 Purple group — BOTTOM

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Need some extra help?

Today’s Connections groups are...

• 🟨 Yellow group — containers

• 🟩 Green group — laundry services

• 🟦 Blue group — British bands formed in the 1970s, with “The”

• 🟪 Purple group — rock ____

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

• 🟨 Yellow group — containers (BUCKET, CAN, DRUM, TIN)

• 🟩 Green group — laundry services (DRY, FOLD, PRESS, WASH)

• 🟦 Blue group — British bands formed in the 1970s, with “The” (CLASH, CURE, DAMNED, FALL)

• 🟪 Purple group — rock ____ (BOTTOM, LOBSTER, MUSIC, SALT)

I got the greens first today, thanks to WASH and PRESS. I was annoyed about that though, because immediately afterwards, I drew a link between DAMNED and CLASH that led me into the blues. As a fan of The CURE, I’m mad that I didn’t get that group first.

After that, the yellows were no problem. And as soon as the purples fell into the same row, I figured out the connection for those. Again, I’m annoyed considering I enjoy three of those things!

(I’m not really annoyed, more ever-so-slightly miffed. I’m good. I’m happy.)

Another perfect game takes my streak to 294 and a step closer to 300.

How did you get on today? Here's my grid:

🟩🟩🟩🟩 
🟦🟦🟦🟦 
🟨🟨🟨🟨 
🟪🟪🟪🟪

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for hints and the solution for Sunday’s game if you need them.

P.S. I’ve definitely recommended “Rock Lobster” by The B-52s before, so I won’t do that today. According to some quick research, “Just Like Heaven” seems to be the only song by The Cure I’ve offered up, but I seem to recall using “Close To Me” not too long ago as well.

So, even though it’s the wrong day of the week, let’s go with a different Cure classic, “Friday I’m In Love.” Such a great song:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

On weekdays, you can find this column over at Forbes. Please follow my blog there for more coverage of NYT Connections and other word games, and even some video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me out a lot!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!