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Hints for Connections #236
Try each clue before moving to the next. They progress from broad category cues to the wordplay behind the less direct groups.
- One group means officially being away from work or school.
- Another group consists of parts or features you might find on a belt.
- For one set, listen for words that sound alike.
- For the last set, add the same word after each entry to make a familiar compound.
The 16 words on the February 2 board
- STRAP
- HOLE
- HOLY
- BREAK
- HOLI
- HOLEY
- DOG
- DRIFT
- WHOLLY
- HOLIDAY
- RECESS
- LEAVE
- SANDAL
- HOLLY
- BUCKLE
- LOOP
Answers for Connections #236
Spoilers below: the four categories and their words are listed in full.
| Color | Category | Words | How the connection works |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow | TIME OFF | BREAK, HOLIDAY, LEAVE, RECESS | Each can describe a period away from usual duties. |
| Green | FEATURES OF A BELT | BUCKLE, HOLE, LOOP, STRAP | These are parts or features associated with a belt. |
| Blue | HOMOPHONES | HOLEY, HOLI, HOLY, WHOLLY | The four entries sound alike, despite their different spellings and meanings. |
| Purple | ___WOOD | DOG, DRIFT, HOLLY, SANDAL | Add “wood” to make dogwood, driftwood, Hollywood, and sandalwood. |
Why the wordplay groups are easy to miss
Sound, not spelling
HOLEY, HOLI, HOLY, and WHOLLY form the homophone set: their spellings differ, but they are pronounced alike. The trick is to stop treating each unusual spelling as an isolated clue and test whether the entries share a sound.
#1 Best Overall
A shared ending
DOG, DRIFT, HOLLY, and SANDAL take “wood” after them: dogwood, driftwood, Hollywood, and sandalwood. The connection is a phrase-completion pattern, not a literal group of kinds of wood.
How the categories differ
The board mixes two direct meaning-based groups with two language-pattern groups. TIME OFF and FEATURES OF A BELT can be spotted through ordinary associations. HOMOPHONES depends on pronunciation, while ___WOOD asks you to complete familiar compounds. Tom’s Guide and Connections Hint characterize yellow as the easiest and purple as the trickiest; that is a subjective assessment, not an official NYT difficulty rating.
Rank #2
Sources and puzzle context
The date, puzzle number, board words, and groupings are corroborated by Tom’s Guide, Connections Hint, and Try Hard Guides. The Connections Hint address is not included as a usable URL here, so no link is provided for it. No primary NYT solution page or named official statement about this particular board was identified in those sources.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Rank #3
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