NYT Connections today — hints and answers for Wednesday, September 11 (game #458)

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 #458) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• DINOSAUR
• PEARL
• EGGPLANT
• MINT
• LAVENDER
• AMBER
• NUGGET
• PILE
• TIDBIT
• AMETHYST
• FORTUNE
• MOSQUITO
• BUNDLE
• PALEONTOLOGIST
• GRIMACE
• KERNEL

NYT Connections today (game #458) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Got one? You're rich
• Green: A little knowledge
• Blue: An Adventure 65 Million Years in the Making
• Purple: All one color

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 #458) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: LARGE AMOUNT OF MONEY
• GREEN: BITS OF WISDOM
• BLUE: FEATURED IN “JURASSIC PARK”
• PURPLE: THINGS THAT ARE PURPLE

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

NYT Connections today (game #458) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #458, are…

• YELLOW: LARGE AMOUNT OF MONEY BUNDLE, FORTUNE, MINT, PILE
• GREEN: BITS OF WISDOM KERNEL, NUGGET, PEARL, TIDBIT
• BLUE: FEATURED IN “JURASSIC PARK” AMBER, DINOSAUR, MOSQUITO, PALEONTOLOGIST
• PURPLE: THINGS THAT ARE PURPLE AMETHYST, EGGPLANT, GRIMACE, LAVENDER

• My rating: Easy
• My score: 2 mistakes

My winning run in Connections – that's six in a row after multiple failures over the previous few weeks. Maybe the game's got easier; maybe I've got better; maybe it's just luck!

Whatever the case, I didn't find today's Connections too troubling. The blue JURASSIC PARK group stood out immediately, even 30 years on from the original film's debut. Yellow (LARGE AMOUNT OF MONEY) and green (BITS OF WISDOM) were also pretty straightforward, once I'd thought about it. I wouldn't have got purple if not by default, though – three were obvious, but I don't know what GRIMACE refers to, so would never had got that. (Apparently it's a McDonald's thing – but I've never eaten there, so wouldn't know…)

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, 10 September, game #457)

• YELLOW: VARIETIES KINDS, SORTS, STRIPES, TYPES
• GREEN: TRANSFER DELIVER, GIVE, HAND, PASS
• BLUE: RATINGS SYSTEMS A-F, PERCENTAGE, STARS, THUMBS
• PURPLE: THINGS WITH KINGS CHECKERS, DECK OF CARDS, MONARCHY, NHL

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.