Day 9: Connections

We do the Connections every morning. 16 seemingly disparate words or phrases in a 4×4 grid, waiting for us to make the connection between them.

We play Connections after we’ve already gotten the Wordle, and once we’ve solved the Mini Crossword. I play Spelling Bee most days too, though I’m not as obsessed as I was last year with getting Queen Bee (thanks, Steve G from Long Beach!), and I much prefer Connections.

We only have 4 lives but if we play together we have 8. It’s not a competition. It’s a challenge, the goal being to find all four groups.

There are always some red herrings. Some too obvious or too out there. The worst is when you lose a life and all the tiles shake, meaning you’re not even “one away.”

If I solve everything well (the Wordle within 4, the Mini in under a minute, and Connections without losing all of my lives), it means it’s going to be a good day. If it’s a 6-guess day on the Wordle (“phew!”) or, god forbid, a loss of my streak, and I go to work without having Connections solved, I start the day uneasy.

There’s something I love about having worked out my brain — successfully — before the day begins. As the tagline goes, “A good day starts with play.” And these word games keep our brains sharp, Kim reminds me.

Today we did the Connections. First we solved the Wordle (I got it in 4), and then the Mini (1:39, it was slightly bigger today). I lost a life with my first guess. But then we saw it. The 4 categories, coming into focus, the pixels sharpening.

“Ah-a!” That’s the feeling. When you finally see it.

And so I know (or rather, hope confidently) today is gonna be a good day.