Chasing the reverse rainbow
“In Connections, the clues/answers the designers create should be solved in sequence from ‘Straightforward’ to ‘Tricky.’ However, I’m curious about how often the puzzle is solved in that manner statistically, and I guess more specifically, how often the ‘Tricky’ solution is solved first?” — Doug Strahan, Mill Creek, Wash. From Christina: Judging what someone else will find difficult is always tough. Everyone has a different wheelhouse, so what seems obvious to one person might feel impossible to another. When Wyna Liu, the puzzle editor behind Connections, assigns colors to categories in the game, she goes by gut feel, but tends to follow some basic guidelines. Yellow and green categories are the most straightforward, and what connects these words or phrases has to do with the meaning of the word. The connection is frequently a synonym, or things that are all seen in the same place. “Things on the beach,” or “synonyms for happy” would be examples of straightforward categories. The blue category is often trivia-based, and the infamous purple category typically centers on wordplay-based. How often does the audience agree with Wyna on which categories are the easiest? On average, roughly 41 percent of players solve yellow first, 28 percent green first, 20 percent blue and 10 percent purple. But these numbers can vary quite a bit. On March 12, for instance, only 15 percent of players got yellow first, but on March 6, that number was 67 percent. Overall, people generally do find the yellow category the easiest and the purple group the most difficult. Gamers solve purple last 53 percent of the time. But do people solve the board in “rainbow order,” with yellow first, then green, blue and purple? Not very often. Just 14 percent of people solve in this order on any given day. With the blue category often being a trivia-based, “know-it-or-you-don’t” category, the people who do know the answer will often recognize blue almost immediately. Because Wyna frequently throws in red herrings, that can also throw off which category solvers guess first. In this board, there are five entries that seem like they could fit in the yellow category: MONKEE, ROLLING STONE, BEATLE, BYRD and BEACH BOY. Even if the yellow category jumps out at you, you might end up guessing the green or blue group first because it’s a sure bet. Some people intentionally try to solve the purple category first, or even go for a “reverse rainbow.” How much do you think about the colors when you’re guessing?
Solve Friday’s Crossword on Easy Mode!
In today’s Wordplay column, Sam Corbin writes about her upcoming book leave and Sean McGowan, the new Wordplay writer. For expert hints on today’s puzzle, read her column. Were you able to solve the Friday puzzle with Easy Mode? We want your input! Share your experience with us by email. Easy vs. HardIn today’s daily puzzle, the clue for 51-Down took me a moment to grasp. [Bands together?] is talking about radio bands, not about coming together For Easy Mode, I went with [Letters on a radio switch], which spells out the answer more clearly.
How are we doing? Thanks for playing! Subscribe to New York Times Games. If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can sign up to receive it regularly here. P.S. The answer to Easy vs. Hard is AM/FM.
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