Gif by topmoviequotes on Giphy
Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend so far.
I feel like I’ve had a lot of wasted hours and days over the last several years. Playing games is one thing, since it’s genuinely satisfying and it’s often for work. Doomscrolling for hours on end? Not so much.
I’ve made more small-scale mistakes than I’d like to admit in recent memory. Those typically involve giving into temptation and seeking the quick dopamine rush of something like an unhealthy meal I enjoy and order too often. It’s the way my brain is wired, to take those easy thrills. I lack the self-control I need more of in certain areas of my life.
Even so, I’m attempting to give myself grace. It’s something we can all probably stand to do more of. (To ourselves, I mean. Not to me. (But if you’d like to give me grace, that’s cool too.))
I am trying very hard not to beat myself up over my mistakes and obsess over them. I’d like to convert that energy into something more productive and to train myself to make fewer of those missteps in the first place.
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 Sunday, August 2 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...
LIKE
AIRPLANE
VIA
FLAX
À LA
SO
BY
DARK
PER
LORD
WELL
ASEA
THROUGH
BEAST
OLGA
ACTUALLY
And the level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:
🟨 Yellow group — not much space for these in formal settings
🟩 Green group — in that vein or as a result of a given process
🟦 Blue group — a setting or how something’s done
🟪 Purple group — an extra stop?
One Word For Each Connections Group
Need some extra help?
Be warned: we’re 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 — WELL
🟩 Green group — PER
🟦 Blue group — DARK
🟪 Purple group — ASEA
What Are Today’s Connections Groups?
Today’s Connections groups are...
🟨 Yellow group — filler words
🟩 Green group — by means of
🟦 Blue group — _____ mode
🟪 Purple group — U.S. airport codes plus starting letter
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 — filler words (ACTUALLY, LIKE, SO, WELL)
🟩 Green group — by means of (BY, PER, THROUGH, VIA)
🟦 Blue group — _____ mode (AIRPLANE, BEAST, DARK, À LA)
🟪 Purple group — U.S. airport codes plus starting letter (ASEA, FLAX, LORD, OLGA)
Well, so, like, ACTUALLY brought the yellows together for me to get things started. The greens fell into place next.
I'm glad DARK and BEAST landed next to each other at that point, as I was able to deduce the blues. I thought those would be the purples. (I am team DARK mode for life, fyi.)
ASEA and OLGA suggested there was some wordplay going on this time. I didn't crack the code, and definitely would not have. Happy to get those by default for a 518th win in a row. Pretty sneaky to have AIRPLANE in a separate group!
How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪
That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. I’ll be back over at Forbes for the Monday-Friday editions for the column. And if you haven’t subscribed to Pastimes already, definitely do that! It would be super sweet of you.
P.S. I’ve been listening to Queens of the Stone Age a lot lately. They’re my favorite band of all time, and those first five records are nigh-on untouchable. I love that they continue to surprise, 30 years into their career.
Their recently released song “Easy Street” is a much more laidback number than you might normally expect from this band. It’s mostly acoustic guitars and hand claps and and earwormy melody. Lyrically, it’s more introspective than Josh Homme usually is.
It’s not entirely sunshine and roses, though, as the video isn’t exactly for the squeamish. Please do note that if you must:
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!
