# If You Like "Wordle", Try "Connections"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Tags:** board-card-word-game\
**Created:** [August 19, 2023, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796 "2023-08-19T13:01:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/101 "2023-10-06T14:59:39Z")

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10/6: maybe I’m “old school,” but since when is “dead” a texting term for laughing?

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**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/102 "2023-10-06T15:21:40Z")

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I’d like to see a version of Connections that wouldn’t let you finish unless you identified the commonality of the last four words. Just ‘solving’ them because they’re left over feels like a cheat.

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**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/103 "2023-10-06T15:52:29Z")

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It’s mostly a Twitter (X) thing.

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**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/104 "2023-10-06T17:11:13Z")

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> [@BlankSlate](#):
>
> I’d like to see a version of Connections that wouldn’t let you finish unless you identified the commonality of the last four words. Just ‘solving’ them because they’re left over feels like a cheat.

You don’t need to provide your reasons for any of the other groups, so I don’t see why you should need it for the last group. I’m also not sure what the interface would be for this feature; does it open a text box and you have to type the magic word? That sort of thing can be tough to implement well.

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**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/105 "2023-10-06T17:12:21Z")

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> [@Quimby](#):
>
> It’s mostly a Twitter (X) thing.

What’s the origin; is it an acronym?

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**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/106 "2023-10-06T17:23:34Z")

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It’s a transition I think from “I’m dying laughing” to “I’m dead” to just “dead”. At least, that’s been my experience of it.

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**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/107 "2023-10-06T18:09:58Z")

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Huh. In my admittedly limited texting experience, I have never seen ‘dead’ as anything except, well, dead.

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**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/108 "2023-10-06T18:12:39Z")

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> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> What’s the origin; is it an acronym?

Spoilering to not give a puzzle clue:

People will post something ridiculous, funny or a good burn and say “I’m dead” as in “this is so funny/ridiculous/cutting” it killed me .

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**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/109 "2023-10-06T22:07:17Z")

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> [@Railer13](#):
>
> Huh. In my admittedly limited texting experience, I have never seen ‘dead’ as anything except, well, dead.

I’ve only ever seen it on reddit, but I’ve seen it there a lot. Usually in the form of “💀.” I’m sure that’s what the kids these days say over text, but I wouldn’t know because the only people I text with are old farts like me.

I’m not sure how I feel about the fact that google voice translated “skull emoji” into the actual thing.

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**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2023, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/110 "2023-10-07T17:01:14Z")

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> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> > [@BlankSlate](#):
> >
> > I’d like to see a version of Connections that wouldn’t let you finish unless you identified the commonality of the last four words. Just ‘solving’ them because they’re left over feels like a cheat.
> 
> You don’t need to provide your reasons for any of the other groups, so I don’t see why you should need it for the last group. I’m also not sure what the interface would be for this feature; does it open a text box and you have to type the magic word? That sort of thing can be tough to implement well.

That’s also probably why it doesn’t solve the last four automatically (which is what happens on the TV show, BTW); it gives you the chance to figure it out for yourself.

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**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2023, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/111 "2023-10-07T23:30:38Z")

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Weird - I did the 10/7 puzzle this morning and

the blue group was “Past Tense Verbs” . Which I called bullshit on, because two of the words definitely were not.

I went back in this evening to take another look, and the puzzle had reset – I had to do it over. And this time the blue group was “Irregular Verbs”.

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**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2023, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/112 "2023-10-08T02:50:55Z")

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I, and I assume others, reported the incorrect category label. My score was also wiped and the label corrected later in the day.

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**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/113 "2023-10-10T14:23:03Z")

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I wish they stopped using groups of things like “NHL Teams”, unless they only want players from the U.S.

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**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/114 "2023-10-10T14:33:40Z")

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But, they also put periods between N, H and L so it took me a second to figure out what kind of teams they were lol (also I haven’t paid attention to hockey in 30 years so I didn’t know of the Kraken or Wild or “Stars” (who used to be the North Stars)).

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**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/115 "2023-10-10T18:33:50Z")

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> [@Frodo](#):
>
> I wish they stopped using groups of things like “NHL Teams”, unless they only want players from the U.S.

There might be a few players from Canada, too.

I thought today’s puzzle was difficult. I made three mistakes off the bat, and then managed to solve it without making a fourth.

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**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/116 "2023-10-10T21:58:48Z")

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> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> There might be a few players from Canada, too.

I should’ve said “upper North America”

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/117 "2023-10-11T15:35:34Z")

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Connections  
Puzzle #122  
🟩🟩🟩🟩  
🟨🟨🟨🟨  
🟦🟦🟦🟦  
🟪🟪🟪🟪

Finally a instance not made exclusively for UnitedStatesians and adjacent people 😛

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**Author:** ![Newtosite](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/newtosite/32/8623_2.png) [@Newtosite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Newtosite)\
**Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/118 "2023-10-17T09:31:19Z")

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Connections  
Puzzle #128  
🟦🟦🟦🟦  
🟩🟩🟩🟩  
🟨🟨🟪🟨  
🟨🟨🟨🟨  
🟪🟪🟪🟪  
First time I got all four.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/119 "2023-10-21T17:13:28Z")

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I’ve mostly stopped doing Wordle in favor of Connections. I find the latter puzzle far more interesting.

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**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2023, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-like-wordle-try-connections/988796/120 "2023-10-21T17:18:44Z")

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I’ve been playing Connections for a couple of weeks so I missed the first few weeks of it. And there doesn’t seem to be any way to go back and do the earlier ones. (On the other hand, if I try to complete it on my phone, when I try again on my phone, I’m starting from scratch, so it’s easier to get a perfect result. With the crossword puzzle, on the other hand, I can start it on one computer, solve a couple of clues on a second computer and complete it on my phone.)

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