Connections became the second most popular word puzzle in the new York Just gaming sector less than 12 months after its launch.

This success is due in large part to editor Wyna Liu’s daily efforts to develop challenging, yet doable brain teasers.

“The response was truly incredible, overwhelming and unexpected,” said Liu Newsweek in June. “It’s exciting that something that is very close to my heart is resonating with people.”

“The game has evolved with the solvers and is responsive to the solvers’ experiences and expectations,” she explained, pointing out that she now sometimes “clumps” words together on the board, which might make people think they don’t belong together at all.

Liu was also generous enough to share her top tips for playing connections.

“My best advice is to wait as long as possible before guessing,” she said. “You might see the board and have the category fully identified because you see five words that could belong in that category.”

“Don’t try to guess the four words in this category, because even though you know which is the fifth member, you don’t know which of the four it might not be,” which would ultimately cause you to waste a turn.

How to play “Connections”

This puzzle requires players to classify 16 words into four categories based on their association. For example, one game involved linking the words “clear,” “earn,” “make,” and “net,” all of which fell into the category “take home, as income.”

Instructions on how to play the game are below. Clues and answers to Thursday’s puzzle are towards the end of the article, so scroll carefully.

Each of the four categories is marked with a color that also indicates the level of difficulty. Yellow is the easiest category, followed by green, blue, and then purple. The puzzles are rarely easy, however, instead using homophones and wordplay, among other things, to keep things interesting.

The connecting themes can come from a variety of categories – from Halloween costumes to music genres.

When all four words in each sentence are placed correctly, those words are removed from the board. Each incorrect guess counts toward the error count. Up to four errors can be made before the game is over.

Newsweek has put together some practical tips to help you solve today’s Connectionsbut scroll carefully as the answers appear further down.

‘Connections’ #436 Notes for Tuesday, August 20

Newsweek is here with some tips to help you make today’s Connections Categories.

Yellow: These words refer to different types of air movement.

Green: Words to move things.

Blue: Animal symbols of the horoscope.

Purple: The main characters of a popular children’s book author.

‘Connections’ #436 answers for Tuesday, August 20

Yellow category: Windrush

Yellow words: blow, draft, gust, puff

Green category: TURN

Green words: Crank, roll up, turn, wind up

Blue Category: Zodiac signs

Blue words: Taurus, Crab, Leo, Aries

Purple Category: DR. SEUSS TITLE CHARACTERS

Purple words: Cat, Grinch, Pop, Turtle