NYT Connections today — hints and answers for Sunday, September 8 (game #455)

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.

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 #455) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• FROST
• BEACH
• PUMP
• POPE
• RACE
• BISHOP
• PET SHOP
• POUND
• HARDY
• BEAT
• PRIOR
• BAKE
• THROB
• BAD
• PREHEAT
• PASTOR

NYT Connections today (game #455) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Instructions for cooking
• Green: Coronary actions
• Blue: Religious positions
• Purple: blank [not girls]

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 #455) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: VERBS IN A CAKE RECIPE
• GREEN: WHAT A HEART DOES WHEN EXCITED
• BLUE: ECCLESIASTICAL TITLES
• PURPLE: ___ BOYS

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

NYT Connections today (game #455) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #455, are…

• YELLOW: VERBS IN A CAKE RECIPE BAKE, BEAT, FROST, PREHEAT
• GREEN: WHAT A HEART DOES WHEN EXCITED POUND, PUMP, RACE, THROB
• BLUE: ECCLESIASTICAL TITLES BISHOP, PASTOR, POPE, PRIOR
• PURPLE: ___ BOYS BAD, BEACH, HARDY, PET SHOP

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 2 mistakes

Today's Connections puzzle is awash with misdirection. Virtually every group had another answer that could have gone in there, and there were several other possible connections that proved to be dead ends. Take BEAT, BAKE, FROST, PREHEAT – which ultimately made up the yellow easiest group, VERBS IN A CAKE RECIPE: POUND could also have been a recipe word and I tried that with various other combinations before getting the correct quartet. And similarly, the WHAT A HEART DOES WHEN EXCITED group (green) could easily have included BEAT if it was just WHAT A HEART DOES.

Fortunately, purple was a relatively easy [blank] format today; the second I saw PET SHOP I thought 'BOYS' and it wasn't hard to identify BEACH, HARDY and BAD to form that group. Ditto the blue ECCLESIASTICAL TITLES group. So, overall not too difficult, but far from a cakewalk (even if cakes were one theme).

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, 7 September, game #454)

• YELLOW: WAYS TO TRANSFORM AN IMAGE CROP, FLIP, ROTATE, SCALE
• GREEN: THINGS USED IN GOLF BALL, DRIVER, GLOVE, TEE
• BLUE: AQUARIUM PURCHASES FILTER, PUMP, ROCKS, TANK
• PURPLE: LOGOS WITH HORSES COACH, GODIVA, MUSTANG, POLO

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.