NYT Connections today featured one of my pet peeves (spoiler inside)

Posted on September 3, 2026 at 10:32:12 AM by WestSideBlue

I absolutely hate when the puzzles include a "red herring" that is absolutely correct, and is trickier, more creative or requires deeper knowledge than the actual "right" answer. Today's Connections included the clues "Matchbox [20], Sum [41], Blink [182] and Maroon [5]." That should have been the purple category, or at least blue. Instead it was a "wrong answer." And the purple answer (Average, Count, Max and Sum as Spreadsheet Functions) is, imo, worse than the purported red herring.

I managed to avoid the trap today and ended up with a perfect score, but it still left me cursing Wyna Liu. Knock it off, Wyna.

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Thread:

NYT Connections today featured one of my pet peeves (spoiler inside) - By WestSideBlue September 3, 2026 at 10:32:12 AM
- Maybe I’m missing something, but what Inhatr - By LKLIII September 3, 2026 at 01:09:31 PM
- Yeah, my biggest problem with connections is that they often contain "guess what I'm thinking" answers with other viable options.* - By BlueMoose1 September 3, 2026 at 10:44:44 AM
  - It seems like you need to solve all four categories to avoid the "wrong viable options" which is annoying to me... - By ajs September 3, 2026 at 10:48:24 AM
    - And I'm fine with it if the red herring is something that is almost a correct answer but just slightly off - By WestSideBlue September 3, 2026 at 10:54:01 AM
      - 100% agree...like yesterday (spoiler)... - By ajs September 3, 2026 at 11:32:08 AM
        
        Except for (spoiler) - By Craig September 3, 2026 at 11:57:32 AM
        
        agree on your second sentence. Never heard that phrase used, but was able to figure it out* - By ajs September 3, 2026 at 12:23:10 PM
- I thought it was pretty easy today and breezed through it, partially I guess because...(spoiler)... - By ajs September 3, 2026 at 10:41:33 AM

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NYT Connections today featured one of my pet peeves (spoiler inside)