Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answer and Help for July 7, #392

Need the answers for the New York Times Connections puzzle? To me, Wordle is more of a vocabulary test, but Connections is more of a brainteaser. You’re given 16 words and asked to put them into four groups that are somehow connected. Sometimes they’re obvious, but game editor Wyna Liu knows how to trick you by using words that can fit into more than one group.

And do you also play Wordle? We’ve got today’s Wordle answer and hints too.

We’ve also got today’s answer and some general tips for Strands, a new game from the Times that’s just moved out of beta and into the NYT’s Games app.

Read more: NYT Connections Could Be the New Wordle: Our Hints and Tips

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest, yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Water to ice is one.

Green group hint: Paul Westerberg’s band.

Blue group hint: Think doc, or barkeep.

Purple group hint: All I Want for Christmas Is You.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Change states of matter.

Green group: Replacement.

Blue group: Slangy names for professions.

Purple group: Mariah Carey number one hits.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is change states of matter. The four answers are condense, freeze, melt and vaporize.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is replacement. The four answers are alternate, backup, cover and sub.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is slangy names for professions. The four answers are copper, hack, shrink and suit.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Mariah Carey number one hits. The four answers are Fantasy, Hero, Honey and Someday.

How to play Connections

Playing is easy. Winning is hard. Look at the 16 words and mentally assign them to related groups of four. Click on the four words you think go together. The groups are coded by color, though you don’t know what goes where until you see the answers. The yellow group is the easiest, then green, then blue, and purple is the toughest. Look at the words carefully, and think about related terms. Sometimes the connection has to do with just a part of the word. Once, four words were grouped because each started with the name of a rock band, including “Rushmore” and “Journeyman.”