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(I love that GIF so much. Pure joy.)
Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend so far.
I probably could be doing a better job of beating the drum about how terrible almost all of this generative AI bollocks is. I’m sure there’s a way for me to do it without sounding like a broken record. Still, I thought this video from Eurogamer was a good explainer of some of the reasons why AI is so bad.
While it focuses on games (and some of the stuff the narrator discusses may sound like a foreign language to some of you), it has some broader points to make about this AI boondoggle, some of the reasons it stinks and how it’s all built on a house of cards. I can’t really imagine ChatGPT maker OpenAI being able to generate nearly the kind of revenue it needs to be a sustainable business, and the video does a good job of explaining that.
This is an interesting watch. Please don’t ask AI to summarize it:
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, January 25 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...
SUB
RIBBON
HOOD
SHIP
SHELL
COVER
MENU
TUBE
ENTER
BOWTIE
FILL IN
WINDOWS
DOM
ALT
TEMP
ATE
And the level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:
🟨 Yellow group — like an understudy or benchwarmer
🟩 Green group — these might be in front of you at this very moment. As long as you're not on a phone or tablet, that is
🟦 Blue group — important considerations for some Mediterranean cuisine
🟪 Purple group — like being released from prison or wrapping up one's stint in elected office, these can bring a term to an end
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 —SUB
🟩 Green group — ENTER
🟦 Blue group — SHELL
🟪 Purple group — HOOD
What Are Today’s Connections Groups?
Today’s Connections groups are...
🟨 Yellow group — act as a backup
🟩 Green group — PC keyboard keys
🟦 Blue group — pasta shapes
🟪 Purple group — suffixes
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 — act as a backup (COVER, FILL IN, SUB, TEMP)
🟩 Green group — PC keyboard keys (ALT, ENTER, MENU, WINDOWS)
🟦 Blue group — pasta shapes (BOWTIE, RIBBON, SHELL, TUBE)
🟪 Purple group — suffixes (ATE, DOM, HOOD, SHIP)
I got the greens right away thanks to ALT and WINDOWS (sorry if you're a Mac user!). FILL IN and COVER then made the yellows clear to me.
From there, BOWTIE and RIBBON helped me figure out the blues. I didn't figure out the purple connection but my brain has still not recovered from Electric Callboy melting it a week ago, so I'm giving myself a pass. :)
A perfect game today brings my streak up to 330 wins.
How did you get on today? 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. Thom Yorke has a great voice and it fits certain types of songs better than others. It's a great match for Unkle's "Rabbit in Your Headlights," as York's haunting falsetto works really well with the trippy production of this ballad:
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!
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