Today's Connections Hints & Answers For August 16, 2024 (Puzzle #431)

In today's puzzle, there are many possible options and some harder-than-average words that make it difficult to determine which words go where. The editors were seemingly working overtime trying to squeeze in the most red herrings they could. Fortunately, we have solved the puzzle and now have several tips and tricks to make your time solving the puzzle more efficient.

If you are a fan of there are far more puzzles out there for you to test out. One of these is the puzzle by the NYT, which allows you to make a different kind of connection. This one will create a full picture worth a thousand words and is worth checking out for anyone interested in logical deduction puzzles.

The Letter Boxed game for the New York Times mobile app asks you to connect letters to form words while using various strategies to win quickly.

If you are stuck trying to figure out what the various categories might be, we have some hints for you to try to solve the puzzle without any spoilers. This puzzle has some interesting red herrings and some confusing words as well.

The last (purple) category is a little odd today. The definition made for it is not wrong, but I do take issue with it. However, if you just need the category names, we have them listed below.

MEH

U.S. STATE ABBREVIATIONS

KINDS OF BOOTS

THINGS THAT GO UP AND DOWN

MEH

AVERAGE

FAIR

OK

SO-SO

This category was, predictably, the easiest. The OK is a bit of a red herring if you already understand what the next category is, and the SO-SO is confusing with all of the other hyphenated words, creating a false category. However, seeing OK along with AVERAGE told me that it likely did not go with the other two-letter words. I figured this one out fairly quickly, as I figured the hyphenated words were likely a trick on the editor's part.

U.S. STATE ABBREVIATIONS

HI

MA

OR

PA

For a short time, I thought the next category was socks as opposed to boots, so I thought there was a chance HI belonged in that category. However,