Today’s Connections Hints & Answers For December 17, 2024 (Puzzle #555)

If you feel like you are losing your nerves in today’s Connections puzzle, you might need to find a few hints to help you out. This is a way to build up your confidence without getting the full spoilers. However, for those that do just want an answer to help kickstart the rest of the puzzle, we have those as well. We have whatever you need to get you to the end of the puzzle without losing too much patience.

If you want to try a different kind of puzzle, the NYT’s Letter Boxed puzzle is a sure way to stay in the word-based puzzle world without feeling like there’s too much crossover. Instead of making connections between groups, you will be attempting to string words together by building them around the sides of a box. While it looks complicated and a little overwhelming at first, you will soon get the rhythm for it as you bounce from side to side without any problems whatsoever.

Today’s Connections Category Hints

DECEMBER 17 #555

On today’s puzzle, the main root of frustration will likely be the fact that all of the words are the same kind of word – that being nouns – and there is not that much difference between them. There is also a fair amount of overlap in the words, making it easy to make incorrect guesses. To help you avoid those incorrect guesses, a few hints should help you get what the puzzle is trying to accomplish without looking at the answers.

• One category is about a certain characteristic people may or may not have
• One category is about something that gets you from one place to another
• One category is about something you likely use every day, although that is changing
• One category is something you might play a certain sport on

If those hints are not enough for you, there are still many more to come. The first of which is the category names, before we start spoiling answers.

Today’s Connections Answers

DECEMBER 17 #555

Yellow Answers: Revealed & Explained

This category is all about resolve and how much you may have of it. There is a lot of potential in these words. You can have the HEART for something, you can find the GRIT to keep going when things feel difficult, you have the NERVE to stand up for something, or the PLUCK to stay the course. There are a lot of different meanings for these words, and HEART and NERVE in particular seem to be the sticking point for today, as those are both part of your anatomy, of which there are two other trick words.

Green Answers: Revealed & Explained

This one could be the easiest category, but there is a difficult word here, that being ARTERY, that seems like it should go with HEART and NERVE a lot more than it should go with other “roads.” It seems much less like a road and much more of a tube from your heart to the rest of the body, but I suppose the meaning is there. Figuring out what the fourth word is here seems like one of the hardest parts of the puzzle to me, but perhaps you did not have the difficulties I did with this one.

Blue Answers: Revealed & Explained

There are many different types of paper in the world, and I love all of them. I have massive piles of it on my hobby desk, and perhaps one day I will have the time to get around to using some of them. I won’t hold my breath, but it’s a nice thought. WAX paper is one of the most versatile types, while TISSUE paper is fun to recycle and reuse from present to present. GRAPH paper reminds me a bit too much of high school geometry, but CONSTRUCTION paper at least is fun and different compared to the rest.

Purple Answers: Revealed & Explained

Lastly, it’s another sports category but this one is slightly different, as it is about types of tennis courts. I honestly did not think about there being this many, but thinking about it, it does make sense. There are similar types of fields for most sports, including ones I have played at least for a little while. What’s difficult about this one is the lack of context, because HARD is not a “surface” in the same way CARPET, CLAY, and GRASS are. Even CLAY is a little suspect, but I would guess it went with GRASS as they are both found on the ground.

Other Games Like Connections

If you still need some more puzzling time today, check out the following puzzles to help you keep you streaks going.