If you like Connections, try Association. It's a free daily word-grouping puzzle: sixteen words, four groups of four, a new board every day. The categories lean everyday rather than obscure.
Association
Association gives you sixteen words that hide four groups of four. Tap four you think belong together and submit. Get it right and the group locks in with its category name. Get it wrong and you lose one of four mistakes.
Our hub card calls it similar to Connections, but less esoteric. The categories are things like "Words for a flop" or "Popcorn ___", not trivia you'd need to look up. Association isn't affiliated with The New York Times.
- A new hand-written puzzle every day, the same for everyone
- "One away" when three of your four are right
- Four difficulty colors, from green to the hardest group
- A spoiler-free emoji grid to share
Play today's Association or read how to play Association, including how the decoys work.
Why are word-grouping puzzles hard?
Some words fit more than one group, on purpose. The trick is to find the group that has no doubts in it, lock it in, and let the decoys show themselves. The Association guide walks through an example.
Then try something new
The best part of a word-grouping puzzle is the moment a hidden link clicks. A few other PerDiem games are built around that kind of moment, just not with words:
- Packline: draw district lines and discover that the side with fewer voters can win more districts
- Scope: work out what a panel of unlabeled controls does, one twist at a time
- Enigma: crack a hidden code of four colors in eight tries
Coming from NYT Games? See what to try next, or browse every game by type.