The Friday edition of NYT Connections is here with Puzzle #971, offering a clever mix of wordplay that rewards sharp ears, pattern recognition, and a bit of insect knowledge. Today’s grid leans heavily on homophones and familiar everyday visuals, making it a satisfying challenge for seasoned solvers.

For those new to the game, Connections presents 16 words that must be sorted into four groups of four, each sharing a common theme. Players are allowed only four mistakes, and categories are colour-coded by difficulty—yellow being the easiest and purple the trickiest. Since its launch in June 2023, the game has become a daily favourite alongside Wordle and the New York Times crossword.

Today’s Word List

Here are the 16 words featured in Puzzle #971:

CHOW | YEOH | TIGER | DRAGON
FIRE | HAY | HORSE | STRAW
HIGH | REFEREE | BUTTER | CUP
LID | CROSSWALK | STIRRER | CANDY CANE

At first glance, the collection appears random—but each word fits neatly into a hidden category.

Hints to Get You Started

• Yellow category: Think about items you’d commonly see at a coffee counter
• Green category: Visual patterns that appear across everyday objects and living things
• Blue category: Words that combine with a suffix to form insect names
• Purple category: Say them out loud—these words sound like greetings

Solutions for NYT Connections #971

If you’re ready to check your answers, here’s how today’s grid breaks down:

Yellow – Items at a coffee station
CUP, LID, STIRRER, STRAW

Green – Things with stripes
CANDY CANE, CROSSWALK, REFEREE, TIGER

Blue – Words that come before “fly” in insect names
BUTTER, DRAGON, FIRE, HORSE

Purple – Homophones of greetings
CHOW, HAY, HIGH, YEOH

Puzzle Breakdown

Puzzle #971 lands in the moderate difficulty range. The yellow group is straightforward, especially for anyone familiar with coffee-shop essentials. The green category requires spotting striped patterns across unrelated contexts, while the blue category tests familiarity with common insect names.

The purple group is the toughest, relying entirely on phonetic wordplay. “Yeoh” proves to be the biggest stumbling block, as recognising it as a homophone for “yo” requires thinking beyond standard spelling.

As always, the real challenge lies in the red herrings—words like “hay” and “straw” hint at agriculture, while “tiger” and “dragon” could easily steer players toward mythical or animal-based groupings.

The next Connections puzzle drops at midnight local time. Until then, Puzzle #971 offers a solid reminder that the game rewards not just logic, but flexible thinking and careful listening.