NYT Connections today hints and answers — Friday, November 15 (#523)

NYTimes Connections
(Image credit: Future)

Looking for today's Connections answers? The Connections answers on November 15 for puzzle #523 are a little harder than yesterday's puzzle, with the Connections Companion rating this puzzle's difficulty at 3 out of 5.

Every day, we update this article with Connections hints and tips to help you find all 4 of today's answers. And if the hints aren't enough, you'll find all 4 answers below, with the category titles and the correlating words. Plus, we're including a reflection on yesterday's puzzle, #522, in case you're reading this in a different time zone.

Spoilers lie ahead for Connections #523. Only read on if you want to know today's Connections answers.

Alternatively, visit our how to play NYT Connections guide for tips on how to solve the puzzle without our help.

Today's Connections answer — hints to help you solve it

Unlike our guide to today's Wordle answer, where we recommend the best Wordle start words as your strategy, solving Connections relies on identifying connecting categories among 16 words. Each category's difficulty level is represented by a color; yellow is the easiest grouping, and purple is the most challenging. Once you've made 4 mistakes in your guesses, the answers will be revealed, so hints can be helpful.

If you need hints to solve the groupings, then here are the themes of each, based on the order of difficulty:

  • 🟨 Yellow: Fissue
  • 🟩 Green: Elements of writing
  • 🟦 Blue: Instruments you blow into
  • 🟪 Purple: ___ of time

These hints should get you at least some of the way towards finding today's Connections answers. If not, then you can read on for bigger clues; or, if you just want to know the answer, then scroll down further.

Here's a larger hint: Recall your grammar, start up a jug band, fix that "fissure" and don't waste any time.

Today's Connections answers

So, what are today's Connections answers for game #523?

Drumroll, please...

  • 🟨 Fissure: Crack, hole, leak, puncture
  • 🟩 Elements of writing: Letter, phrase, sentence, word
  • 🟦 Instruments you blow into: Jug, pipe, recorder, whistle
  • 🟪 ___ of time: Nick, passage, sands, waste

Maybe because it's Friday, or maybe it's a down week, but I was left quite cold by today's puzzle and was happy it was done even though nothing stuck out as egregiously bad, save the word fissure.

I do write for a living so phrase, sentence and word stuck out to me as grammar, not just elements of writing. Nothing else fit so letter was slotted in for the green group.

From there I took a strike putting hole, leak and puncture together with nick and not the correct crack for the yellow "fissure." Ugh. None of the first three words are fissures. Neither is a nick, but it's closer to what the other three mean. Also, don't just Google "fissure" without the word dictionary next to it when you're searching for the exact definition.

Anyway, jug, pipe, recorder and whistle stuck out to me as things you play.

Which left the nick of time, passage of time, sands of time and waste of time for the final fill. Perhaps I am being harsh today but today's puzzle felt like a waste of time. There was no joy in it for me. Some days are like that.

Yesterday's Connections answers

Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Connections answers for game #522, which had a difficulty rating of 2.6 out of 5, according to the Connections Companion.

I kicked the day off when I saw jam and rock, which led to shred and groove for playing music with passion.

I noticed tax and tip near each other with total not far off and realized this was referring to a receipt. Signature stuck out so we wrapped it up.

I had been stuck on sap for awhile but was thinking more of the sugary substance, not the draining definition. However, with only eight words left, it was a easier to see cube, grain, powder and syrup as forms of sugar.

Thus, I wrapped up today's puzzle with drain, empty, exhaust and sap for depleting words.

Scott Younker
West Coast Reporter

Scott Younker is the West Coast Reporter at Tom’s Guide. He covers all the lastest tech news. He’s been involved in tech since 2011 at various outlets and is on an ongoing hunt to build the easiest to use home media system. When not writing about the latest devices, you are more than welcome to discuss board games or disc golf with him.