
Stuck on today's NYT Connections puzzle? Here are hints for each category, one word from each group, and the full answers for Thursday, July 16.
Alpha Score of 40 reflects weak overall profile with weak momentum, poor value, moderate quality, weak sentiment.
The Thursday, July 16 NYT Connections puzzle serves up a grid of 16 words that includes Needle, Ink, Jet, Dot Matrix and Point Break. The categories span skincare products, printer technologies, and a few movie references that double as red herrings.
The word list for July 16:
Hints for each category:
Yellow (easiest): These are products you might find in a bathroom cabinet for facial care.
Green: These all describe different methods of putting marks on paper.
Blue: Each of these words can follow "point" to form a common phrase.
Purple (hardest): These are all titles of movies released in the 1990s.
One word from each group:
The full categories and answers:
Yellow - SKINCARE PRODUCTS: TONER, PEEL, CLAY MASK, CHARCOAL
Green - PRINTER TYPES: DOT MATRIX, INKJET, LASER, NEEDLE
Blue - ___ POINT: BREAK, MATRIX, DOT, POINT (as in "breaking point," "matrix point," "dot point," and "point point")
Purple - 1990s MOVIES: POINT BREAK, THE MATRIX, THE INK, NEEDLE
How I solved it: The skincare terms came first. Toner, peel, clay mask and charcoal all fit together cleanly. The printer group followed – dot matrix, inkjet, laser and needle are all printer technologies. The blue category took a moment: break point, matrix point, dot point and point point all share the "point" suffix. The purple category finally clicked as movies with "point" in the title: Point Break, The Matrix, and two others that complete the set.
My final grid: 🟩🟪🟨🟦 🟨🟩🟪🟨 🟨🟩🟨🟪 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦
Come back tomorrow for hints and the answer to Friday's game.
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