NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, February 4 (game #604)

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #604) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• FILE
• SAVE
• BUTTER
• CHICKEN
• SPREAD
• SAND
• UNDER
• STORE
• LADY
• FAVORITE
• STICKY
• PRESERVE
• KEEP
• BUFF
• PARLAY
• GRIND

NYT Connections today (game #604) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Put away for later 
• GREEN: Level the surface
• BLUE: Bet on it
• PURPLE: Add a handy body part

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #604) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: CONSERVE 
• GREEN: SMOOTH USING FRICTION
• BLUE: SPORTS GAMBLING TERMS 
• PURPLE: WORDS BEFORE "FINGERS" 

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #604) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #604, are…

• YELLOW: CONSERVE KEEP, PRESERVE, SAVE, STORE
• GREEN: SMOOTH USING FRICTION BUFF, FILE, GRIND, SAND
• BLUE: SPORTS GAMBLING TERMS FAVORITE, PARLAY, SPREAD, UNDER
• PURPLE: WORDS BEFORE "FINGERS" BUTTER, CHICKEN, LADY, STICKY

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• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

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The only STICKY group for me today was WORDS BEFORE “FINGERS” and this was just because I’d never heard of CHICKEN Fingers. If the group had included FISH I would have got it more quickly – although I believe that in the US this pinnacle of orange cuisine is called a Fish Stick.

The Fish Stick was invented by frozen food pioneer Clarence Birdseye and was originally made from herrings. It only became a product made from cod in the 1950s and its success was rapid in the UK, where they were marketed with the slogan “No bones, no waste, no smell, no fuss”. I’m not sure about that last part as it’s a given that if you clean your freezer you will always find some orange fishy crumbs preserved in the ice, even if you haven’t eaten a fish finger in years. Finger crumbs – the wooly mammoth of the modern suburbia.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

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Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, 3 February, game #603)

• YELLOW: COMMENT AFTER AN INSULT BURN, OUCH, SNAP, ZING
• GREEN: TINY AMOUNT, WITH "A" BIT, LITTLE, MITE, TAD
• BLUE: BIT OF CITRUS GARNISH SLICE, TWIST, WEDGE, ZEST
• PURPLE: BUNGLE, WITH "UP" FOUL, LOUSE, MUCK, SCREW

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What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.