Game ID
int64
1
570
Puzzle Date
stringclasses
538 values
Word
stringlengths
1
25
Group Name
stringlengths
1
60
Group Level
int64
0
3
Starting Row
int64
1
4
Starting Column
int64
1
4
1
2023-06-12
SNOW
WET WEATHER
0
1
1
1
2023-06-12
LEVEL
PALINDROMES
3
1
2
1
2023-06-12
SHIFT
KEYBOARD KEYS
2
1
3
1
2023-06-12
KAYAK
PALINDROMES
3
1
4
1
2023-06-12
HEAT
NBA TEAMS
1
2
1
1
2023-06-12
TAB
KEYBOARD KEYS
2
2
2
1
2023-06-12
BUCKS
NBA TEAMS
1
2
3
1
2023-06-12
RETURN
KEYBOARD KEYS
2
2
4
1
2023-06-12
JAZZ
NBA TEAMS
1
3
1
1
2023-06-12
HAIL
WET WEATHER
0
3
2
1
2023-06-12
OPTION
KEYBOARD KEYS
2
3
3
1
2023-06-12
RAIN
WET WEATHER
0
3
4
1
2023-06-12
SLEET
WET WEATHER
0
4
1
1
2023-06-12
RACECAR
PALINDROMES
3
4
2
1
2023-06-12
MOM
PALINDROMES
3
4
3
1
2023-06-12
NETS
NBA TEAMS
1
4
4
2
2023-06-13
PUMP
FOOTWEAR
0
1
1
2
2023-06-13
FOOT
UNITS OF LENGTH
1
1
2
2
2023-06-13
TIME
MAGAZINES
2
1
3
2
2023-06-13
SEA
LETTER HOMOPHONES
3
1
4
2
2023-06-13
LEAGUE
UNITS OF LENGTH
1
2
1
2
2023-06-13
LOAFER
FOOTWEAR
0
2
2
2
2023-06-13
WHY
LETTER HOMOPHONES
3
2
3
2
2023-06-13
US
MAGAZINES
2
2
4
2
2023-06-13
BOOT
FOOTWEAR
0
3
1
2
2023-06-13
YARD
UNITS OF LENGTH
1
3
2
2
2023-06-13
PEOPLE
MAGAZINES
2
3
3
2
2023-06-13
ARE
LETTER HOMOPHONES
3
3
4
2
2023-06-13
MILE
UNITS OF LENGTH
1
4
1
2
2023-06-13
SNEAKER
FOOTWEAR
0
4
2
2
2023-06-13
QUEUE
LETTER HOMOPHONES
3
4
3
2
2023-06-13
ESSENCE
MAGAZINES
2
4
4
3
2023-06-14
AMIGO
MEMBERS OF A TRIO
3
1
1
3
2023-06-14
MOUTH
FACIAL FEATURES
0
1
2
3
2023-06-14
LAB
DOG BREEDS, INFORMALLY
2
1
3
3
2023-06-14
STOOGE
MEMBERS OF A TRIO
3
1
4
3
2023-06-14
WOLF
SYNONYMS FOR EAT
1
2
1
3
2023-06-14
KING
MEMBERS OF A TRIO
3
2
2
3
2023-06-14
NOSE
FACIAL FEATURES
0
2
3
3
2023-06-14
CHOW
SYNONYMS FOR EAT
1
2
4
3
2023-06-14
TENOR
MEMBERS OF A TRIO
3
3
1
3
2023-06-14
POM
DOG BREEDS, INFORMALLY
2
3
2
3
2023-06-14
SCARF
SYNONYMS FOR EAT
1
3
3
3
2023-06-14
EYE
FACIAL FEATURES
0
3
4
3
2023-06-14
PIT
DOG BREEDS, INFORMALLY
2
4
1
3
2023-06-14
GOBBLE
SYNONYMS FOR EAT
1
4
2
3
2023-06-14
PEKE
DOG BREEDS, INFORMALLY
2
4
3
3
2023-06-14
CHEEK
FACIAL FEATURES
0
4
4
4
2023-06-15
DUST
CLEANING VERBS
2
1
1
4
2023-06-15
CATS
MUSICALS BEGINNING WITH “C”
1
1
2
4
2023-06-15
SPIDER
___ MAN SUPERHEROES
3
1
3
4
2023-06-15
CAROUSEL
MUSICALS BEGINNING WITH “C”
1
1
4
4
2023-06-15
PUMA
SNEAKER BRANDS
0
2
1
4
2023-06-15
IRON
___ MAN SUPERHEROES
3
2
2
4
2023-06-15
NIKE
SNEAKER BRANDS
0
2
3
4
2023-06-15
MOP
CLEANING VERBS
2
2
4
4
2023-06-15
CHICAGO
MUSICALS BEGINNING WITH “C”
1
3
1
4
2023-06-15
SWEEP
CLEANING VERBS
2
3
2
4
2023-06-15
SUPER
___ MAN SUPERHEROES
3
3
3
4
2023-06-15
BAT
___ MAN SUPERHEROES
3
3
4
4
2023-06-15
REEBOK
SNEAKER BRANDS
0
4
1
4
2023-06-15
CABARET
MUSICALS BEGINNING WITH “C”
1
4
2
4
2023-06-15
VACUUM
CLEANING VERBS
2
4
3
4
2023-06-15
ADIDAS
SNEAKER BRANDS
0
4
4
5
2023-06-16
MUSTARD
CLUE CHARACTERS
3
1
1
5
2023-06-16
TARTAR
CONDIMENTS
1
1
2
5
2023-06-16
PLUM
CLUE CHARACTERS
3
1
3
5
2023-06-16
BLUE
SYNONYMS FOR SAD
2
1
4
5
2023-06-16
GREEN
CLUE CHARACTERS
3
2
1
5
2023-06-16
PRIME
STREAMING SERVICES
0
2
2
5
2023-06-16
GLUM
SYNONYMS FOR SAD
2
2
3
5
2023-06-16
RELISH
CONDIMENTS
1
2
4
5
2023-06-16
DOWN
SYNONYMS FOR SAD
2
3
1
5
2023-06-16
PEACOCK
STREAMING SERVICES
0
3
2
5
2023-06-16
KETCHUP
CONDIMENTS
1
3
3
5
2023-06-16
LOW
SYNONYMS FOR SAD
2
3
4
5
2023-06-16
HULU
STREAMING SERVICES
0
4
1
5
2023-06-16
SCARLET
CLUE CHARACTERS
3
4
2
5
2023-06-16
MAYO
CONDIMENTS
1
4
3
5
2023-06-16
NETFLIX
STREAMING SERVICES
0
4
4
6
2023-06-17
WONDER
MEMBERS OF A SEPTET
3
1
1
6
2023-06-17
FUTURE
RAPPERS
2
1
2
6
2023-06-17
BABY
SHADES OF BLUE
1
1
3
6
2023-06-17
GO
MONOPOLY SQUARES
0
1
4
6
2023-06-17
SIN
MEMBERS OF A SEPTET
3
2
1
6
2023-06-17
CHANCE
MONOPOLY SQUARES
0
2
2
6
2023-06-17
ROYAL
SHADES OF BLUE
1
2
3
6
2023-06-17
ICE CUBE
RAPPERS
2
2
4
6
2023-06-17
MIDNIGHT
SHADES OF BLUE
1
3
1
6
2023-06-17
JAIL
MONOPOLY SQUARES
0
3
2
6
2023-06-17
SEA
MEMBERS OF A SEPTET
3
3
3
6
2023-06-17
POWDER
SHADES OF BLUE
1
3
4
6
2023-06-17
Q-TIP
RAPPERS
2
4
1
6
2023-06-17
SISTER
MEMBERS OF A SEPTET
3
4
2
6
2023-06-17
BOARDWALK
MONOPOLY SQUARES
0
4
3
6
2023-06-17
COMMON
RAPPERS
2
4
4
7
2023-06-18
JOHN
SLANG FOR TOILET
2
1
1
7
2023-06-18
CUB
BABY ANIMALS
1
1
2
7
2023-06-18
STAR
___ FISH THAT AREN’T FISH
3
1
3
7
2023-06-18
SILVER
___ FISH THAT AREN’T FISH
3
1
4

Context

Connections is a word puzzle developed and published by The New York Times, first released on 12 June 2023. It has since become the second most-played game published by the New York Times, behind only Wordle. The player's goal is to identify four distinct categories or themes among sixteen words, with each group containing four words that fit the theme. Words can be connected by various relationships, such as synonyms, shared characteristics, or associations. The connections increase in difficulty (as indicated by the connection's color: yellow (easiest), green, blue, purple (hardest)) as the connections become more abstract or deceptive, with a maximum of four incorrect guesses allowed before the game is over. It tests the player's ability to spot patterns and make associations across different word groupings.

Content

This dataset is a collection of NYTimes Connections games and information. Information is displayed by words that appear in each Connections game. Each row contains data on the game ID, date of the game, the word itself, the name of the group it's a part of, the level difficulty of the group, and the original starting position (row and column) of the word.

Refer to the sample NYTimes Connections game below: Screenshot of a sample Connections game from 18 August 2023

You can view the entries for this game in the dataset in indeces 1,072-1,087, or where Game ID is equal to 68. The columns and their properties in the dataset include:

  • Game ID: The ID of the day's game, as listed by the NYTimes. For the game above, the Game ID is 68.
  • Puzzle Date: The date of the puzzle, as listed in YYYY-MM-DD. For the game above, the Puzzle Date is 2023-08-18.
  • Word: Each word from each day's game is listed as a row. Every word is added from the game's starting board, left to right, top to bottom. For example, in the game above, you can find the word 'PINT' in index 1,072, 'REAL' in index 1,073, 'SPONGE' in index 1,076, etc.
  • Group Name: The theme that connects a word to others in a group. In the game above, the answers are: "Cup, Gallon, Pint, Quart" in yellow (easiest) for "Units of Volume"; "Awful, Quite, Super, Very" in green (moderately easy) for "Extremely"; "Rand, Real, Sterling, Won" in blue (moderately hard) for "World Currencies; and "Carrot, Coffee, Pound, Sponge" in purple (hardest) for "___ Cake". So the group names for this game would be 'UNITS OF VOLUME', 'EXTREMELY', 'WORLD CURRENCIES', and '___ CAKE'.
  • Group Level: The difficulty of the group, indicated by an integer (0 being easiest, 3 being the hardest). As an example, in the game above, "World Currencies" is grouped in blue (second hardest, third easiest), meaning its group level would be 2.
  • Starting Row: The starting row position for a given word, expressed as an integer 1-4. Rows are numbered from top to bottom, so 1 is the topmost row, while 4 is the bottommost row.
  • Starting Column: The starting column position for a given word, expressed as an integer 1-4. Columns are numbered from left to right, so 1 is the leftmost row, while 4 is the rightmost row.

To put the starting rows and columns together, here is a visual example of the starting rows & columns for the game above, expressed as "WORD: (row, column)":

PINT: (1, 1) REAL: (1, 2) CARROT: (1, 3) AWFUL: (1, 4)
SPONGE: (2, 1) CUP: (2, 2) WON: (2, 3) SUPER: (2, 4)
GALLON: (3, 1) COFFEE: (3, 2) VERY: (3, 3) POUND: (3, 4)
RAND: (4, 1) QUITE: (4, 2) QUART: (4, 3) STERLING: (4, 4)

Acknowledgements

All game information was collected from the NYTimes archive.

Inspiration

Some possible uses for this dataset include:

  • Evaluating Reasoning and Decision Making skills of LLMs/Neural Networks (recent paper on this topic)
  • Using NLP analysis to detect "red herrings" in Connections
  • Utilizing the work to construct a word association network
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