Want the answers? Here they are. Or you could just read the hints, figure it out, and feel the thrill of intellectual victory. We cover all of that, plus links to Mini Crossword and Strands if your brain is hungry for more than just this.
This puzzle #1114 has a purple category. It hides words inside words. The kind of trickery that makes you sigh.
There’s a Connections bot now. Like Wordle’s. Use it to see your numeric score and have a cold machine judge your logic.
Registered users? You can nerd out on your stats. Win rate. Puzzles completed. Your perfect score count. The win streak that either exists or haunts your nightmares.
The Clues
Rankings from easiest yellow to the baffling purple.
Yellow hint : Like a ne’er-do-wll.
Green hint : Devour.
Blue hint : Turn up the music.
Purple hint : Think forest items.
Wait. Forest? Or parts of them? Keep reading.
The Answers
Here is where the magic happens, or where it falls apart for you.
The yellow words: Old timey troublemakers
* miscreant
* rogue
* ruffian
* scoundrel
Classic villains. No surprise here.
The green words: Consume with gusto
* crush
* guzzle
* inhale
* snarf
“Snarf” is a great word. Use it often. It means you really, truly ate that food. Or sucked in the air. The context helps.
The blue words: Parts of a speaker
* cabinet
* cone
* magnet
* woofer
Audio gear. Solid. If you have a stereo system, you probably know these parts. Or at least the woofer. That thing shakes the room.
The purple words: Ending in parts of a tree
This is the tricky one. The hint says forest items. The answer is suffixes that look like trees.
* embark (bark )
* groot (root )
* nudibranch (branch )
* strunk (trunk )
Groot is a root. I guess that’s a thing. Marvel logic meets biology. Nudibranch is a sea slug. Why is it in a tree puzzle? Because of the suffix. It’s sneaky.
The Toughest Puzzles Ever
Feeling brave? Want to compare pain? Here are the hardest puzzles they’ve ever printed.
- candidate
- faucet
- mascara
- nose
Your nose runs. The candidate runs. It’s a word game. A cruel one.
- nap
- plant
- Ranger
- trip
- Elm
- Fear
- Jump
- Sesame
- egg
- juror
- month
- rose
- mood
- record
- table
- volleyball
You set a mood. You set a record. You set a volleyball. It works until you overthink it. Which you did. Now go play again. See how many turns it takes. Don’t mess it up this time. Or maybe you will. The forest is watching. 🌲
