For word puzzle enthusiasts, June 18, 2025, brought a fresh challenge with the release of The New York Times' daily Connections puzzle, number 738. This brain teaser, which updates at midnight local time, tasked players with grouping sixteen seemingly unrelated words into four sets of four, each linked by a common theme. While some players found the puzzle straightforward, many struggled, as today’s edition was notably tricky, testing even seasoned solvers.
The words featured in today's puzzle were: Smack, Barm, Pea, Wet, Rankle, Astronaut, Gray, Whale, Cold, Coffee, Right, Ship, Exactly, Windy, Lear, and Dead. The objective was to identify the connections binding these words into four distinct groups, each with a unique thematic link.
According to multiple sources including The New York Times and tech journalist Marc’s detailed analysis, the four groups were categorized by color codes that corresponded to their difficulty: yellow, green, blue, and purple. The yellow group, often the easiest, was themed around "qualities of a rainy day." It included the words Cold, Gray, Wet, and Windy — all familiar descriptors of dreary weather that many would prefer to avoid. As Marc noted, "I could do without any of those things for a while, thank you very much."
The green group, representing a moderate challenge, revolved around the concept of "squarely" — words that convey exactness or directness. This set comprised Dead, Exactly, Right, and Smack. These words share a common thread of indicating precision or completeness, a subtle but satisfying connection once uncovered.
Perhaps the most intriguing was the blue group, which centered on the "contents of a pod." This category included Astronaut, Coffee, Pea, and Whale. At first glance, this grouping might puzzle solvers. However, the link lies in the meaning of "pod" in various contexts: peas grow in pods, coffee beans come from coffee pods, whales travel in pods, and astronauts are part of a "pod" or group during space missions. This clever wordplay highlights the puzzle’s depth and the layered thinking required to solve it.
The purple group posed the greatest difficulty, often involving wordplay or more abstract connections. Here, the theme was "body part plus a starting letter," featuring the words Barm, Lear, Rankle, and Ship. The trick was recognizing that each word contains a body part hidden within it with an additional letter at the start. For example, Barm contains "arm," Lear contains "ear," Rankle has "ankle," and Ship includes "hip." This nuanced grouping exemplifies the puzzle’s clever design, requiring solvers to think beyond surface meanings.
Marc, who stepped in to cover for the regular columnist Johnny during his vacation, shared his personal experience with the puzzle. He admitted to staring at the board for several minutes before making progress, noting that "there was simply nothing that appeared to go together" initially. After some shuffling and mental rearranging, he found that pairing words like Lear and Barm unlocked the purple group. His success culminated in a perfect game, extending his winning streak to an impressive 113 consecutive victories.
The Connections game, a popular New York Times word challenge, is praised for its daily updates and accessibility. Players can engage with it via the NYT Games website or app, enjoying a free and mobile-friendly experience. The game’s design allows for four incorrect guesses before ending, giving players some leeway while maintaining the challenge. Each puzzle features only one correct solution, demanding careful thought and strategy.
For those struggling with the game, numerous resources exist. The New York Times provides hints and full solutions, as seen in the detailed breakdown of today’s puzzle. Additionally, communities like the Connections Discord server offer social spaces for discussion, tips, and camaraderie among players. Marc’s newsletter, Pastimes, and his blog further enrich the experience with insights and coverage of NYT word games and beyond.
Interestingly, the blue group’s theme inspired a cultural nod to the classic film "2001: A Space Odyssey," directed by Stanley Kubrick. Marc reflected on the film’s timelessness and its prescient commentary on artificial intelligence, famously quoting the line, "Open the pod bay doors, please, HAL." This connection underscores how word puzzles can intersect with broader cultural and intellectual themes, adding layers of enjoyment for players.
Yesterday’s puzzle, number 737, also received mention, reminding players of the ongoing challenge and variety the Connections game offers. That puzzle’s groups ranged from vacation-related items to figures from classic Disney films, showcasing the game’s wide-ranging thematic possibilities.
Ultimately, today’s Connections puzzle reinforced the appeal of word games that blend linguistic skill, cultural knowledge, and creative thinking. Whether a casual player or a dedicated solver, the challenge of uncovering hidden links among words continues to captivate and engage a broad audience, keeping the tradition of word puzzles alive and thriving in the digital age.
