“Connections” February 4: Hints and answers for puzzle #604

Connections skyrocketed to popularity in 2023 when it was launched by The New York Times. Today, it is the newspaper’s second-most popular game behind Wordle.

Last year, Wyna Liu—the NYT crossword editor who also helped develop Connections—spoke out on the worldwide phenomenon with Newsweek.

“The response has been really incredible and overwhelming, and unexpected,” Liu said in June. “It’s exciting that something I care very deeply about is resonating with people.”

As for how each game is created, Liu said “each board has to be made from scratch,” noting, “I usually don’t know where a board is going to go. It really does a long time to fudge things and try different angles.”

If you’re finding today’s puzzle particularly tricky, Newsweek has your back with helpful hints. It should be noted, however, that the answers to today’s game are also listed below, so if you would like to work them out for yourself, we advise you scroll carefully.

How To Play ‘Connections’

To start the brainteaser, players are given a table of 16 words. These words must be split into four groups of four and placed into categories based on a common topic. Each category is associated with a color—yellow, green, blue and purple. Yellow is the easiest category, while purple is the hardest, and green and blue are medium difficulty.

For example, in Monday’s puzzle, the words “Slice,” “Twist,” “Wedge” and “Zest” were related to “Bit Of Citrus Garnish.” This was a blue category.

When players have decided on their words, they will click on each term and press the “Submit” button. If the words are correct, they will appear in their category color and will be removed from the board. If they are incorrect, then they will remain on the board.

If users find themselves getting stuck, pressing the “Shuffle” button will mix up the words.

Luckily, there is no time limit for the game, though players have only four guesses to solve the puzzle before the answers are revealed.

‘Connections’ #604 Hints and Clues for Tuesday, February 4

Newsweek came up with a hint for each category to help you with Tuesday’s puzzle:

Yellow: To protect something

Green: Words often associated with DIY

Blue: Place a bet

Purple: ___ “Fingers”

‘Connections’ #604 Answers for Tuesday, February 4

Yellow Category: CONSERVE

Yellow Words: Keep, Preserve, Save, Store

Green Category: SMOOTH USING FRICTION

Green Words: Buff, File, Grind, Sand

Blue Category: SPORTS GAMBLING TERMS

Blue Words: Favorite, Parlay, Spread, Under

Purple Category: WORDS BEFORE “FINGERS”

Purple Words: Butter, Chicken, Lady, Sticky

Congratulations if you continued your winning streak with today’s puzzle! But don’t worry if you weren’t able to solve it. You’ll get another chance on Wednesday when a new game will be available for you to try.

Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone, so be sure to check back with Newsweek daily for more hints and answers.

Wishing a new Connections game would be available sooner? Try these other popular word games in the meantime.