NYT Connections today — hints and answers for Sunday, June 23 (game #378)

Here's your Connections puzzle for Sunday from the NYT. It's hard, as always, but not so tricky as some are – and I have hints if you need some below.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Wordle hints and answers, Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too.

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 #378) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• QUIET

• MAGIC

• COLD

• SIN

• BUG

• BREACH

• EASY

• ENOUGH

• SING

• WINDY

• DIVE

• MOTOR

• RELAX

• COUGH

• SPOUT

• CHILL

NYT Connections today (game #378) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Calm down

• Green: Feeling peaky

• Blue: Moby Dick-esque antics

• Purple: The Big Apple, but not that one

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 #378) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: “SETTLE DOWN!”

• GREEN: MINOR AILMENTS

• BLUE: WHAT HUMPBACK WHALES DO

• PURPLE: ___ CITY NICKNAMES

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

NYT Connections today (game #378) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #378, are…

• YELLOW: “SETTLE DOWN!” EASY, ENOUGH, QUIET, RELAX

• GREEN: MINOR AILMENTS BUG, CHILL, COLD, COUGH

• BLUE: WHAT HUMPBACK WHALES DO BREACH, DIVE, SING, SPOUT

• PURPLE: ___ CITY NICKNAMES MAGIC, MOTOR, SIN, WINDY

• My rating: Moderate

• My score: Perfect

This is a relatively straightforward selection of Connections words today. I might quibble over whether yellow is easier than green (I solved the latter first), and I hadn't heard of MAGIC CITY, but that was about it as far as complexity went.

I solve the green 'minor ailments' group first, identifying that COLD, COUGH, BUG and CHILL all went nicely together and not being sidetracked by CHILL and WINDY or any other red herrings. Yellow followed soon after, before the traditional pause for the final two groups.

After I while I realized that SIN, WINDY and MOTOR could all be followed CITY, but I didn't have my fourth. However, MAGIC CITY sounded like it should be a thing, and indeed it was (it's Miami, for those of you who, like me, are not from the US). I wouldn't have got the blue 'whale' group other than by default, but once only those four were left I did spot the connection there, too.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, 22 June, game #377)

• YELLOW: ONE THING AFTER ANOTHER CHAIN, SERIES, STRING, TRAIN

• GREEN: KINDS OF GOLF CLUBS DRIVER, IRON, WEDGE, WOOD

• BLUE: HORROR MOVIES, WITH “THE” BIRDS, FOG, OMEN, RING

• PURPLE: WORDS FOR SAUSAGE BRAT, DOG, FRANK, LINK

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.