NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, February 16 (game #616)

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 #616) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• PUNCH
• SUGGESTION
• TOUCH
• POINT
• MATCH
• BOX
• TRIUMPH
• SET
• HINT
• COMPLEMENT
• OSCAR
• SUIT
• LAMB CHOP
• TRACE
• FIT
• RETRIEVE

NYT Connections today (game #616) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Slight
• GREEN: Teams up
• BLUE: Comic dolls
• PURPLE: Add two letters for a canine

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 #616) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: GLIMMER 
• GREEN: CORRESPOND WELL WITH
• BLUE: FAMOUS PUPPETS 
• PURPLE: DOG BREEDS MINUS "ER" SOUND 

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

NYT Connections today (game #616) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #616, are…

• YELLOW: GLIMMER HINT, SUGGESTION, TOUCH, TRACE
• GREEN: CORRESPOND WELL WITH COMPLEMENT, FIT, MATCH, SUIT
• BLUE: FAMOUS PUPPETS LAMB CHOP, OSCAR, PUNCH, TRIUMPH
• PURPLE: DOG BREEDS MINUS "ER" SOUND BOX, POINT, RETRIEVE, SET

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• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 mistake

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Crucial to today’s Connections was knowing the difference between COMPLEMENT and Compliment. Unlike Enquire and Inquire, it’s something I’m confident about after eating many complimentary snacks.

I breezed through FAMOUS PUPPETS, but momentarily snagged on the fourth one to add to LAMB CHOP, PUNCH, and OSCAR before a vague recollection of the fantastically rude mutt TRIUMPH on The Daily Show.

Puppets seem to be able to get away with things a person couldn’t say or do. Maybe it’s a future career move for Kanye West. I’m thinking of something like a cute fluffy cat with a pencil moustache.

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

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Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, 15 February, game #615)

• YELLOW: DIVULGE BLAB, DISH, SPILL, TELL
• GREEN: WORDS ON A MAC KEYBOARD COMMAND, CONTROL, OPTION, RETURN
• BLUE: WORDS SHORTENED IN ROCK GENRES ALTERNATIVE, EMOTIONAL, POPULAR, PROGRESSIVE
• PURPLE: __CAKE CHEESE, CUP, PAN, SHORT

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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.