Have you all been playing Connections? It’s a word puzzle that has been appearing in the New York Times for the last few months. It doesn’t have quite the buzz of Wordle, but so many people asked me if I was doing it that I gave it a try. And as expected, now I am hooked.

How does the puzzle work? Each day there is a new 4 x 4 grid, with each space containing one word–a total of 16 words. The object of the puzzle is to separate the 16 words into four categories with four words placed into each category.

The puzzle sounds simple but there is a catch or two. First, the categories are not given. They are different every day, and one of your first tasks is to figure out what those categories are. Second, and the devilish twist, is that some of the words can be part of more than one category, and you need to figure out which one it belongs to.

For example, as you check a grid you see the words Chrysler, Dodge, Chevrolet, Ford, and Jeep. All seem to be car companies, but only four of the five can belong to that category. You look around and notice the word Kennedy in another grid spot, and realize that Ford might belong to a category of Presidents.

And so it goes until you have all 16 words arranged into your four categories. In the NYT version of the puzzle, you have four attempts to reach the correct solution. If it takes more than that, you are a loser for the day and have to wait until the next day to play again.

Here is my version of Connections, including a shout-out to all my readers in Rogers Park. See if you can separate these words into four categories. You can send your answers to me at chidoc@post.com

Let’s see how many of you can solve this, and how many of you get hooked on Connections!

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