The daily connections
How to play Connections
Connections gives you sixteen tiles that hide four secret groups of four. Your job is to untangle them: pick four tiles you think share a thread, submit, and find out. The catch is the overlap. A tile that reads like fruit might really belong with the homophones, and the puzzle is built so the wrong reading looks tidy. It is one of seven daily puzzles on Playabl, the same board for every player, every day. Sign in with Google to keep score.
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A full sample — no sign-in, no score kept.
Connections
Find the four groups
The rules
- 01Find the four hidden groups of four.
- 02Pick 4 tiles and submit. Four mistakes ends it.
Example — LEMON LIME ORANGE GRAPEFRUIT → Citrus
- Easiest group
- Tricky group
- Harder group
- Hardest group
Why play
A fresh sixteen-tile grid lands every day, and because it is identical for everyone who plays, the morning's tricky group becomes a shared argument rather than a private one. Connections rewards a particular kind of patience: the discipline to hold a plausible group back until you have ruled out its decoys. Clearing it without burning all four mistakes is a small, real satisfaction, and it folds into your weekly Playabl standings alongside Sudoku, Word, Nerdle and the rest. Miss a day and yesterday's grid is still playable for half points.
Tips & strategy
- The four groups are colour-ranked from gold (easiest) to red (hardest), so once you crack the gold set, expect the remaining tiles to get progressively more deceptive.
- Solve the group you are surest of first to shrink the grid, but only submit it once you have checked that none of its four tiles fits a rival category better.
- When you submit and the game says you were 'one away', three of your four shared a group — swap out the single tile you were least confident about rather than rebuilding the whole guess.
- Watch for tiles that read two ways at once; the puzzle deliberately seats an obvious-looking word in the wrong group, so the 'free' tile is often the trap.
- You only get four wrong guesses before the game ends, so treat each mistake as a probe — never submit a set you are merely hoping is right.
FAQ
- Is Playabl Connections free to play?
- Yes. Sign in with Google, pick a display name, and you can play the day's Connections puzzle along with the other six games at no cost.
- How is Connections different from the New York Times version?
- The format is the same — sixteen tiles, four hidden groups, four mistakes allowed — but Playabl's board is one of seven daily puzzles scored together, with the same grid served to every player and a weekly leaderboard.
- What does 'one away' mean in Connections?
- It means three of the four tiles you submitted belong to the same group and one does not. It is a near-miss hint telling you to replace a single tile rather than start over.
- How many mistakes can I make before the game ends?
- Four. After your fourth incorrect group the puzzle is over, so it pays to lock in the groups you are certain of and probe the ambiguous tiles carefully.
- Can I play yesterday's Connections if I missed it?
- Yes. Yesterday's grid stays available, but it counts for half points — today's puzzle always carries full points toward the weekly leaderboard.
Seven puzzles a day, the same for everyone, scored, with a weekly champion.