NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, November 22

Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to the weekend!

Did anything interesting happen this week? I was too busy falling down internet rabbit holes to notice, I guess.

A couple of days ago, I learned about a pair of statues that many people insult, slap, and even pee on. Several pairs depicting Song dynasty chancellor Qin Hui and his wife have been placed throughout China, including in Hangzhou. The two figures are depicted in the nude, kneeling with their hands bound behind them.

As the story goes, Qin convinced Emperor Gaozong to execute Yue Fei, a general who is deemed to be a national hero for his efforts in fighting invaders from the north, in 1142. Nearly 900 years later, people express their disdain for Qin and his wife by attacking the statues. I thought this was fascinating! Must suck to have an entire country hate you forever.

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, November 22 are coming right up.

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...

• SPLASH

• SALTY DOG

• RAW

• BITTER MELON

• SOURSOP

• DROP

• SKIPPER

• SWEETHEART

• SWAB

• CHAYOTE

• PLEA

• DAB

• DURIAN

• BIG

• TAR

• TOUCH

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

• 🟨 Yellow group — not too much

• 🟩 Green group — aye aye 🫡

• 🟦 Blue group — the rewards of one's labor in a hot place, perhaps

• 🟪 Purple group — like record, real and package

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 — SPLASH

• 🟩 Green group — TAR

• 🟦 Blue group — SOURSOP

• 🟪 Purple group — RAW

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Need some extra help?

Today’s Connections groups are...

• 🟨 Yellow group — little bit

• 🟩 Green group — sailor

• 🟦 Blue group — tropical fruits/vegetables

• 🟪 Purple group — _____ deal

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 — little bit (DAB, DROP, SPLASH, TOUCH)

• 🟩 Green group — sailor (SALTY DOG, SKIPPER, SWAB, TAR)

• 🟦 Blue group — tropical fruits/vegetables (BITTER MELON, CHAYOTE, DURIAN, SOURSOP)

• 🟪 Purple group — _____ deal (BIG, PLEA, RAW, SWEETHEART)

I had never heard of CHAYOTE or SOURSOP. But with BITTER MELON and DURIAN on the grid, I figured they had to be fruits, and lucked out with the blues.

The yellows were next up. No problem there.

I then detected that SALTY DOG and SKIPPER had to be pirate or seafaring terms. SWAB and TAR made sense with those (as in "swab the decks" and "tar and feather") but I hadn't heard of them in this context.

At that point, the purple connection became clear. What's the BIG deal with this game anyway?

Oh, I get it now. There was a red herring with SALTY DOG, SOURSOP, SWEETHEART and BITTER MELON — referring to four of the five tastes alongside umami.

Anyway, a nifty lil perfect game takes my streak up to 266 wins in a row. 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. The title of this one is a reference to a common phrase in a type of video game called Soulslikes. “You Died” by Health is a brooding, atmospheric and synth-heavy song that tickled my brain this week. A punchy counterweight to all the euphoria I’ve felt over the last few days.

This is the first song I’ve heard from Health, and I like it a whole lot. I’ll have to check out more of their stuff. They’re going on tour in Central and South America later this month and in December, then in the US and Canada in the spring. I’m tempted to pick up a ticket on the strength of “You Died” alone:

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!