Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers for Nov. 21, #529

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Need the answers for the New York Times Connections puzzle? To me, Wordle is more of a vocabulary test, but Connections is more of a brainteaser. You’re given 16 words and asked to put them into four groups that are somehow connected. Sometimes they’re obvious, but game editor Wyna Liu knows how to trick you by using words that can fit into more than one group. Read on for today’s Connections hints and answers.

There’s also news in the Connections world. The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one it’s had for some time for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. And players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

How to play Connections

Playing is easy. Winning is hard. Look at the 16 words and mentally assign them to related groups of four. Click on the four words you think go together. The groups are coded by color, though you don’t know what goes where until you see the answers. The yellow group is the easiest, then green, then blue, and purple is the toughest. Look at the words carefully and think about related terms. Sometimes the connection has to do with just a part of the word. Once, four words were grouped because each started with the name of a rock band, including “Rushmore” and “Journeyman.”

Read more: New NYT Connections Game for Sports Fans Lets Players Swing for the Fences

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest, yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Henley is one.

Green group hint: Drink up.

Blue group hint: SpongeBob friends.

Purple group hint: Italian staple.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Kinds of shirts.

Green group: Spheres in milk tea.

Blue group: Marine invertebrates, familiarly.

Purple group: Starts of pasta names.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is kinds of shirts. The four answers are flannel, Oxford, polo and tee.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is spheres in milk tea. The four answers are boba, bubble, pearl and tapioca.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is marine invertebrates, familiarly. The four answers are coral, jelly, sponge and star.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is starts of pasta names. The four answers are fett, penn, torte and zit.