NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, August 31

Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend so far.

It’s difficult for me to avoid getting sucked into the trap of spending too much time looking at junk on my phone when I know I’d rather be doing something at least somewhat more edifying, even if it’s playing a game or watching a movie. The other day, I deleted almost all of the streaming video apps from my phone. If I want to watch YouTube Shorts, or whatever, I’ll try to only do that on my computer. Same goes for Facebook and Instagram, which are gone too.

I wish it were possible to set time limits for certain websites, as I feel like I’m spending too much time on Reddit on my phone these days. I’d like to set a time limit for the web version of YouTube too.

There’s something else I’ve started trying: an app called Focus Friends, from Hank Green. I saw some chatter about this so I figure I’d check it out.

It gives you a virtual companion (or “bean”) and the idea is that you set a timer during which you don’t do anything with your phone. During this time, the bean does some knitting to earn decorations for its living space. It’s cute and it’s been working for me so far, because I don’t want to break the focus and make the bean sad. That said, I still called my bean Fucko, because I’m terribly immature at times.

(I really don’t want Pastimes to turn into a productivity blog or anything like that, but I just thought sharing this might be useful. This place is supposed to be about how we spend time, after all. Also, just after I wrote this, I read an NY Times newsletter that mentioned this piece on how to reduce phone screen time. I hope it’s helpful!)

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 31 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...

• DRUM

• BASS

• FISH

• CARDS

• FIDDLE

• ROAST

• DOES

• FLAME

• CHOP

• AXES

• BLAST

• DICE

• COORDINATE

• PIECES

• BOARD

• BASH

And the level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

• 🟨 Yellow group — dress down, tear apart

• 🟩 Green group — your streak may be at Risk if you can't figure out this group, so here, take a Clue

• 🟦 Blue group — even though they're completely different, these have doppelgängers

• 🟪 Purple group — like glow and cheese

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 — ROAST

• 🟩 Green group — CARDS

• 🟦 Blue group — DOES

• 🟪 Purple group — FIDDLE

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Today’s Connections groups are...

• 🟨 Yellow group — criticize harshly

• 🟩 Green group — common components of board games

• 🟦 Blue group — heteronyms

• 🟪 Purple group — ____sticks

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 — criticize harshly (BASH, BLAST, FLAME, ROAST)

• 🟩 Green group — common components of board games (BOARD, CARDS, DICE, PIECES)

• 🟦 Blue group — heteronyms (AXES, BASS, COORDINATE, DOES)

• 🟪 Purple group — ____sticks (CHOP, DRUM, FIDDLE, FISH)

The yellows jumped out at me right away, then the board was ever so kind to group the greens together in an L-shape, making them easy to spot.

FISH and FIDDLE then landed next to each other, and I realized CHOP and DRUM went with them (FIDDLEsticks is used as an expression of frustration or dismay). It's a good thing too, as I would have had no chance with the blues.

These are words that have the same spelling, but different pronunciations and meanings. For instance, BASS can mean a fish or a bass guitar, while COORDINATE can mean a location or to arrange/work together. DOES can refer to carrying out an action or several female deer, while AXES can be more than one ax or the perpendicular lines on a graph or chart. My brain was clearly not firing on all cylinders, as I didn't catch that connection at all.

Regardless, that's another perfect game for yours truly. As such, my streak is now up to 184 wins in a row. Here's my grid for today:

🟨🟨🟨🟨 
🟩🟩🟩🟩 
🟪🟪🟪🟪 
🟦🟦🟦🟦

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 didn't know anything about this artist, but a friend included this song in an Instagram story recently. I made a note of it so I could share it with you all as a Sunday recommendation.

Per his website, "Muco is a singer, composer, writer, and improviser of British-Burundian heritage, whose work is inspired by a love of language and storytelling." He reworks Middle and Old English medieval folk songs, sometimes using French, Swahili or Kirundi. This take on "Sumer Is Icumen In" is quite gorgeous:

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!