(That song makes me well up every damn time.)
Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend so far.
While I cover word games and video games a lot, I bristle at the idea of calling myself a games journalist (or a journalist at all, really!). I’m a person who writes about tech and games for a living. That’s it.
Still, some of my work does exist inside the games journalism space. So, of course I’m going to watch a lecture on the state of that particular field.
I’m very, very privileged to do this kind of work full-time, particularly as a freelancer. As the founder of Post Games (a podcast with an NPR-style approach to telling stories about video games) and former Polygon editor-in-chief Chris Plante lays out in the talk, there are really not many well-paying, full-time jobs in games journalism anymore.
I think he offers a super insightful overview of the evolving field and why, despite everything, there are reasons for optimism. I’d recommend checking it out if you’re at all interested in games journalism (which, I suppose, is partly what I do for a living).
If you have a spare hour or so, you can watch the talk and Q&A on Twitch.
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, May 3 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...
PEACE
GREEN
HOUSE
ACID
GARAGE
COMMUNE
FRENCH
FINGERS CROSSED
INDUSTRIAL
BUNNY EARS
SEXUAL
HIPPIE
SHED
AIR QUOTES
FREE LOVE
PORCH
And the level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:
🟨 Yellow group — parts of one's property, perhaps
🟩 Green group — anti-establishment movement that’s depicted in some Mad Men episodes
🟦 Blue group — fundamental shifts in society
🟪 Purple group — gotta hand it to 'em
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 — PORCH
🟩 Green group — ACID
🟦 Blue group — GREEN
🟪 Purple group — BUNNY EARS
What Are Today’s Connections Groups?
Today’s Connections groups are...
🟨 Yellow group — home structures
🟩 Green group — associated with 1960s counterculture
🟦 Blue group — famous revolutions in history
🟪 Purple group — gestures made with the index and middle fingers
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 — home structures (GARAGE, HOUSE, PORCH, SHED)
🟩 Green group — associated with 1960s counterculture (ACID, COMMUNE, FREE LOVE, HIPPIE)
🟦 Blue group — famous revolutions in history (FRENCH, GREEN, INDUSTRIAL, SEXUAL)
🟪 Purple group — gestures made with the index and middle fingers (AIR QUOTES, BUNNY EARS, FINGERS CROSSED, PEACE)
I initially thought there might be a group of '60s-related words with PEACE, ACID, SEXUAL (revolution), HIPPIE and FREE LOVE in the mix. But as I looked around the grid, I realized those might not make sense together.
The gestures you can make with two fingers seemed like a safer bet. I was surprised those were the purples.
I then took a swing with FRENCH, SHED, PORCH and GREEN ("____ door" words) and then GARAGE, INDUSTRIAL, HOUSE and ACID (music genres — French House is also a popular genre). No dice on either of those!
I then went back to my original idea, since FREE LOVE and HIPPIE didn't make much sense with anything else. It clicked when I realized COMMUNE would fit with those. That got me the greens.
I then figured that INDUSTRIAL, FRENCH and SEXUAL referred to revolutions. GREEN made sense with those. That left what should have been a straightforward yellow group for the win.
Fun but tough one today with several red herrings. I managed to eke out a 428th win 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. 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. Waxahatchee is rad, and “Lilacs” is a gorgeous song. So it’s your laid-back Sunday song recommendation for this week:
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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