Let me analyze these 16 words and try to find four groups of four related words. LAG, FANTASTIC, DROP, SAILOR, ECHO, CANDLES, FREEZE, MONKEY, MIME, PRINCESS, PRISONER, PARROT, SAMURAI, GENIE, REFEREE, APOLLO Let me think about possible categories: 1. Party games / children's games: FREEZE (freeze tag/freeze dance), MIME (charades-like), PARROT (repeat what someone says), MONKEY (monkey see monkey do)... These could all be things in a game where you imitate or act. 2. "Mr. ___": MR. FANTASTIC (Marvel), MR. FREEZE (Batman villain), MR. MIME (Pokémon)... Let me think more: - MR. FANTASTIC - MR. FREEZE - MR. MIME - MR. T? No T here... - MR. ECHO? Not sure... Wait, let me think about "___ Moon" or "Moon ___" or other prefixes/suffixes. 3. Things that can follow a word: - SAILOR Moon, PRINCESS (Disney), GENIE (Aladdin) 4. Apollo ___: Apollo 13, Apollo Creed... Let me reconsider. What about words that go with a common word? "___ bar": MONKEY bar, DROP bar... not enough. Things in charades/party games: FREEZE, MIME, PARROT, ECHO - these all involve mimicking or stopping. "Seven ___": SAMURAI (Seven Samurai), CANDLES (Sixteen Candles? No... Seven Candles? No) Wait - Birthday party things: CANDLES, PRINCESS (theme), GENIE (entertainment)... Let me think about "MR. ___": • MR. FANTASTIC (Fantastic Four) • MR. FREEZE (Batman) • MR. MIME (Pokémon) • MR. ECHO (Marvel/Lost character) Hmm, MR. ECHO is a character from Lost (Mr. Eko). Not sure if that's standard. What about "___ tag": FREEZE tag, LAG (lag tag? no), DROP (drop tag? no), MONKEY (monkey tag? no)... "___" as costumes/Halloween costumes: SAILOR, PRINCESS, SAMURAI, REFEREE, GENIE, PRISONER, MIME, PARROT... many of these could be costumes. Let me think about "Sailor ___": Sailor Moon. "Princess ___": Princess Leia. What if the connection is things preceded by a specific word? "MR.": MR. FANTASTIC, MR. FREEZE, MR. MIME, MR. ECHO? Or maybe MR. MONKEY? No... Actually, APOLLO: Apollo Creed, Apollo 13... Let me think about "The ___": THE PRISONER, THE REFEREE, THE DROP... Video game characters: MR. MIME is Pokémon. PARROT... What about "___" + number: APOLLO 13, FANTASTIC FOUR, PRISONER (Prisoner of War?)... Movies with numbers: • APOLLO 13 • FANTASTIC FOUR (4) • SAMURAI (Seven Samurai - 7) • CANDLES (Sixteen Candles - 16) • FREEZE? • DROP? • PRISONER (The Prisoner - number 6?) • REFEREE (The Ref - 12?) • ECHO? Hmm, movies with numbers in the title: • APOLLO 13 • FANTASTIC Four (Mr. Fantastic?) • Seven SAMURAI • Sixteen CANDLES • SAILOR Moon (no number) • FREEZE (no clear number movie) • The PRISONER? Wait: APOLLO 13, Sixteen CANDLES, Seven SAMURAI, FANTASTIC Four? Or Ocean's Eleven? Actually let me reconsider: "___ FOUR": FANTASTIC Four. "Thirteen ___": APOLLO 13? No, it's APOLLO 13. Movie titles that include a number: • APOLLO 13 • FANTASTIC Four • Seven SAMURAI • Sixteen CANDLES • REFEREE (The Ref?) • DROP (Drop Zone?) • PRISONER (The Prisoner #6?) • ECHO? Hmm, what about words associated with specific numbers: • APOLLO 13 • FANTASTIC 4 (Fantastic Four) • SAMURAI 7 (Seven Samurai) • CANDLES 16 (Sixteen Candles) • MONKEY 12 (12 Monkeys) • PRISONER (Prisoner of Azkaban #3?) • DROP (Drop Dead Fred?) • ECHO (Echo?) • SAILOR (Sailor Moon) • GENIE (Genie in a Bottle?) Movies with numbers: • APOLLO 13 • 12 MONKEYS (MONKEY) • FANTASTIC Four • Seven SAMURAI • Sixteen CANDLES • The PRISONER? • ECHO? • SAILOR? • DROP? (Drop Zone, The Drop) Wait, this could be: "___ [number]" or "[number] ___" movies: • APOLLO 13 • 12 MONKEY(S) - 12 Monkeys • FANTASTIC Four - Fantastic 4 • Seven SAMURAI • Sixteen CANDLES • REFEREE - Ref... • GENIE - ? • ECHO - Echo? • FREEZE - ? • PARROT - Dead Parrot? Monty Python? • PRINCESS - Princess Diaries? • SAILOR - Sailor Moon • DROP - ? • LAG - ? • MIME - ? • PRISONER - ? Hmm, let me reconsider. What if it's "___ [number]" movies/shows: • APOLLO 13 • FANTASTIC Four • PRISONER (Cell? The Prisoner?) • CANDLES (Sixteen Candles) Or mixed: • APOLLO 13 • Twelve MONKEY(S) • Seven SAMURAI • Sixteen CANDLES • FANTASTIC Four That's 5, so one doesn't fit. Let me check: • APOLLO 13 ✓ • 12 Monkeys ✓ • Seven Samurai ✓ • Sixteen Candles ✓ • Fantastic Four ✓ Five candidates for four slots. One must belong elsewhere. Unless one of these is wrong. Actually, the category might not be "movies with numbers" exactly. Let me think again... What if the common thread is a specific number? Like all associated with the same number? Or what about "___ drop", "___ lag", etc.? Let me try another approach. Things you do in a game of charades or Simon Says: • FREEZE • MIME • PARROT (repeat) • ECHO (repeat) • MONKEY (monkey see, monkey do) That's 5 again. Fancy dress / costume ideas: SAILOR, PRINCESS, SAMURAI, GENIE, REFEREE, PRISONER, MIME, PARROT... too many. Wait, these could all be fancy dress costumes. But that's 8 words, so the category must be more specific. Hmm, what about "___ suit": SAILOR suit, MONKEY suit, PRISONER suit... "___ bar": MONKEY bar, DROP bar, FREEZE bar... Let me think about "Dead ___": Dead DROP, Dead PARROT, Dead FREEZE? No... "___" that are also Pokémon: MR. MIME (well, MIME), ECHO? No. Let me check: • Actually there's a Pokémon called Mr. Mime • MIME JR. • ECHO? No • PARROT? No • GENIE? No (though Jynx looks like one) • SAMURAI? No • FREEZE? No (Ice types but not named Freeze) Words that can follow "DEAD": • DEAD DROP ✓ • DEAD PARROT ✓ (Monty Python) • DEAD FREEZE? (DEAD-pan? No) • DEAD LOCK? • DEAD LAG? No • DEAD RINGER? Words that can precede or follow "TAG": • FREEZE tag ✓ • LAG (jet lag, not tag) • DROP tag? No • MONKEY tag? No • REFEREE tag? No • PRISONER tag? (Dog tag?) Signal/Communication: ECHO, PARROT, MIME, REFEREE (signals)... Let me try "___ Moon": SAILOR Moon, ECHO Moon? HALF Moon? Things preceded by "French": • French DROP • French MIME (Marcel Marceau?) • French CANDLES? • French PARROT? • French PRINCESS? Hmm, not strong enough. Let me reconsider MR. ___: • MR. FANTASTIC (Marvel) • MR. FREEZE (DC/Batman) • MR. MIME (Pokémon) • MR. REFEREE? No • MR. ECHO? (Lost character Eko, spelled differently) • MR. PRISONER? No • MR. SAMURAI? No • MR. GENIE? No • MR. MONKEY? No • MR. PARROT? No • MR. DROP? No • MR. APOLLO? No • MR. CANDLES? No • MR. LAG? No • MR. SAILOR? No • MR. PRINCESS? No Only three strong ones: FANTASTIC, FREEZE, MIME. Need a fourth. Actually, wait - there's MR. T! But T isn't one of the words... What about "CAPTAIN ___": Captain FANTASTIC, Captain ECHO? Captain AMERICA? Captain PARROT? Captain FREEZE? No... "PRINCE/PRINCESS ___": PRINCESS is already here. Let me try "___" costume/outfit at a party: All of these could be costumes: SAILOR, PRINCESS, SAMURAI, GENIE, REFEREE, PRISONER, MIME, PARROT, MONKEY... That's too many. The puzzle must have exactly 4 groups of 4. Let me step back and think about what connects exactly 4 words. Space-related: APOLLO, ECHO (Echo satellite), MONKEY (space monkeys), LAG (lag?)... • Actually ECHO was the name of a NASA satellite. APOLLO is NASA. • LAIKA was a space dog, not LAG. Greek mythology: APOLLO, ECHO, NARCISSUS?... ECHO and APOLLO are both from Greek mythology. • GENIE (Arabian, not Greek) • PARROT? SAILOR? SAMURAI? No. • APOLLO, ECHO, MIME (Muse?), PRINCESS (Ariadne?), NARCISSUS... • Wait, APOLLO and ECHO are clearly Greek myth. What else? • FANTASTIC? FREEZE? CANDLES? LAG? DROP? MONKEY? MIME? • None of these are obviously Greek myth names. NATO phonetic alphabet: ECHO is NATO alphabet. APOLLO? No, ALPHA is. PARROT? PAPA. MIKE not MIME. FOXTROT not FANTASTIC. • Just ECHO from NATO. Aladdin characters: GENIE, PRINCESS (Jasmine), PARROT (Iago), MONKEY (Abu), SAILOR? SAMURAI? • GENIE ✓ • PRINCESS (Jasmine) ✓ • PARROT (Iago) ✓ • MONKEY (Abu) ✓ • SAILOR? Sultan? No. • FREEZE? Nah. Oh! This is strong! In Aladdin: • GENIE = the Genie • PRINCESS = Princess Jasmine • PARROT = Iago • MONKEY = Abu That's exactly four! These are all character types/descriptions from Aladdin! Let me verify: Abu is Aladdin's monkey companion, Iago is Jafar's parrot, Jasmine is the princess, and the Genie is... the Genie. Yes! Now for the remaining 12: LAG, FANTASTIC, DROP, SAILOR, ECHO, CANDLES, FREEZE, MIME, PRISONER, SAMURAI, REFEREE, APOLLO MR. ___: MR. FANTASTIC, MR. FREEZE, MR. MIME, MR. ___ • MR. APOLLO? No. • MR. ECHO? Possibly from Lost (Mr. Eko). • MR. REFEREE? No. • MR. SAMURAI? No. Wait - in SNL, there was a sketch called "Samurai ___" with John Belushi. Not "Mr. Samurai" though. • MR. PRISONER? No. • MR. CANDLES? No. • MR. DROP? No. • MR. SAILOR? No. • MR. LAG? No. Hmm. Only three strong MR. candidates. Unless one is less obvious. Actually, wait - MR. ECHO from Lost is spelled "Mr. Eko" - but it sounds the same. Could be the connection. Or what about MR. DROP? No, that's not a thing. MR. FANTASTIC, MR. FREEZE, MR. MIME, MR. ECHO? Hmm. Let me consider other patterns for the remaining 12. "DRAG ___": Drag DROP? No. Not helpful. "JET ___": JET LAG ✓. JET? No others. Words related to delay/pause: LAG, FREEZE, DROP, ECHO (latency terms in technology/gaming) • LAG (network lag) • FREEZE (screen freeze) • DROP (frame drop, connection drop) • ECHO (audio echo) These are all things that can go wrong with a video/audio connection! But that might be too loose. "Time ___": Time LAG, Time FREEZE, Time DROP? Time CAPSULE? • Not great. "___" + pool/billiards terms: DROP (drop shot), FREEZE (freeze shot in billiards), LAG (lag in billiards - determines who breaks), CANDLES? ECHO? Wait, billiards/pool terms: • LAG ✓ (lagging to determine who breaks first) • FREEZE ✓ (frozen ball, touching another) • DROP ✓ (drop pocket?) • ECHO? REFEREE? Hmm, maybe not. Dance styles or moves: FREEZE (breakdancing freeze), DROP (drop in dance), SAILOR (sailor step in dance?), CANDLES? Birthday related: CANDLES (birthday candles), PRINCESS (birthday princess), PARTY... hmm, but PRINCESS might be Aladdin. Let me reconsider. What if the groups are: 1. Aladdin characters (by type): GENIE, PRINCESS, PARROT, MONKEY 2. MR. ___: FANTASTIC, FREEZE, MIME, + one more 3. Something else: SAILOR, ECHO, CANDLES, SAMURAI, PRISONER, REFEREE, APOLLO, LAG, DROP + leftover from group 2 4. Something else For group 2, the fourth MR. could be: • MR. REFEREE? No. • MR. APOLLO? No, but APOLLO Creed was addressed as "Mr. Creed." • MR. SAMURAI? No. • MR. CANDLES? There's actually a character called "Mr. Candles" in some fiction? Not that I know of. • MR. DROP? No. • MR. SAILOR? Like "Hello, Sailor"? No. • MR. PRISONER? No. • MR. ECHO? From Lost (though spelled Eko). This seems most likely. • MR. LAG? No. If MR. ECHO is the fourth: FANTASTIC, FREEZE, MIME, ECHO → MR. FANTASTIC, MR. FREEZE, MR. MIME, MR. ECHO Remaining 8: LAG, DROP, SAILOR, CANDLES, PRISONER, SAMURAI, REFEREE, APOLLO Movies with numbers: • APOLLO 13 • Seven SAMURAI • Sixteen CANDLES • 12 Angry Men? No... • The PRISONER? (No specific number movie) • REFEREE? (The Ref?) • SAILOR? (Sailor Moon?) • LAG? (Jet Lag?) • DROP? (Drop Zone?) Wait: • APOLLO 13 → number 13 • Seven SAMURAI → number 7 • Sixteen CANDLES → number 16 • The REFEREE → ? • DROP → ? • LAG → ? • SAILOR → ? • PRISONER → ? Hmm, what about: • PRISONER: The Prisoner (TV show where the character is Number 6) • REFEREE: wears number? A referee doesn't typically have a number. • SAILOR: Sailor Moon? • DROP: ? • LAG: ? Let me think of "___ [number]" or "[number] ___": • APOLLO 13 • Seven SAMURAI • Sixteen CANDLES • SAILOR Moon (not a number) • The PRISONER (Number 6?) • DROP Dead (not a number) • REFEREE (?) • LAG (?) What about "___" that follow "SEVEN": • Seven SAMURAI ✓ • Seven SAILOR? No • Seven CANDLES? (Kwanzaa has 7 candles! The menorah has 7 or 9) Hmm, or all movies/shows with the same number? Actually, let me reconsider. What if it's not about movies but about something else? Card game terms: DROP, LAG, FREEZE, ECHO? Wrestling moves: DROP, FREEZE, MONKEY (monkey flip)? Music terms: DROP (beat drop), ECHO, LAG, CANDLES? Let me try: Things that can precede or follow "OUT": • DROP out ✓ • FREEZE out? Not standard • LAG out? No • ECHO out? No • SAILOR out? No • REFEREE out? No "___" in a mic drop context: DROP (mic drop)... Let me think about SNL characters/sketches: • SAMURAI (John Belushi's Samurai sketches) • MR. ROBINSON? • GENIE? • MIME? Eddie Murphy characters on SNL: GENIE? PRISONER? REFEREE? MR. ROBINSON? Hmm, let me try another approach entirely. Words that can follow "FRENCH": • French DROP (magic trick) ✓ • French CANDLES? No • French SAILOR? No • French MIME? (Marcel Marceau) - well, miming is associated with France but "French mime" isn't a compound term Things in a magic show: • GENIE • CANDLES • MIME • DROP (trap drop) • PRISONER (escapology) • ECHO • REFEREE? • MONKEY? Not strong enough. Types of "freeze": brain freeze, freeze tag, deep freeze, Mr. Freeze... OK let me try yet another approach. What if these are all things that can follow or precede a common word? "___ BALL": CANDLE ball? DROP ball? MONKEY ball? No, not great. "___ SUIT": MONKEY suit ✓, SAILOR suit ✓, PRISONER suit? (we say "prison uniform" or "prisoner's garb"), REFEREE? No. "___" + wrestle/fight terms: SAMURAI, REFEREE, FREEZE (wrestling), DROP (wrestling drop) Words associated with the game "Freeze": In improv, there's a game called "Freeze" where you freeze and tag someone. FREEZE, MIME, ECHO, PARROT could all be improv games... Actually, improv/drama games: • FREEZE (freeze game) • MIME (miming game) • ECHO (echo game - repeat what's said) • PARROT (parroting game) • MONKEY (monkey see monkey do) • MIRROR? Hmm, too many again. Let me reconsider the Aladdin group more carefully: • GENIE ✓ (the Genie) • MONKEY ✓ (Abu) • PARROT ✓ (Iago) • PRINCESS ✓ (Jasmine) • SULTAN? No, not here. SAILOR? No. PRISONER? (Jafar as prisoner? Genie as prisoner of the lamp?) CAVE? No. • LAMP? CARPET? TIGER? Not here. I'm fairly confident about GENIE, MONKEY, PARROT, PRINCESS for Aladdin. Now let me focus on the other 12: LAG, FANTASTIC, DROP, SAILOR, ECHO, CANDLES, FREEZE, MIME, PRISONER, SAMURAI, REFEREE, APOLLO Let me try "___ tag": • FREEZE tag ✓ • LAG tag? No, but "dog tag" • DROP tag? No • LASER tag - LASER? No Phone/communication: ECHO, DROP (dropped call), LAG, ... Things preceded by "body": • Body DROP ✓ (wrestling) • Body FREEZE? No • Body SLAM (not here) • Body REFEREE? No • Body LANGUAGE? Hmm, what about words that can follow "TIME": • Time LAG ✓ • Time FREEZE ✓ • Time DROP? No, but "time out" • Time ECHO? No Words that can follow "PRICE": • PRICE DROP ✓ • PRICE FREEZE ✓ • PRICE LAG? Maybe in economics • PRICE TAG (not here) • PRICE? Interesting - PRICE DROP and PRICE FREEZE are both economic terms. What about things that follow a specific word: "DEEP ___": • Deep FREEZE ✓ • Deep DROP? No • Deep ECHO? No • Deep SIX? Not here "BRAIN ___": • Brain FREEZE ✓ • Brain LAG? No • Brain ECHO? No "___ FRAME": • DROP frame ✓ (video) • FREEZE frame ✓ (video) • LAG frame? No • ECHO? No Hmm, FREEZE FRAME and DROP FRAME are both video terms! What about combining terms: DROP, FREEZE, LAG, ECHO - these are all issues with streaming/video calls/gaming! • LAG (delay) • DROP (dropped connection/frames) • FREEZE (screen freeze) • ECHO (audio echo) That could work! These are all tech/connection issues. But are they really a NYT Connections category? Let me check if there's a more elegant connection. Actually, "___" that can precede or follow a common word: What if they all go with "FRAME"? • FREEZE frame ✓ • DROP frame ✓ (drop-frame timecode) • ECHO frame? No • LAG frame? No What if they all go with another word? "___ SHOT": • DROP shot ✓ (tennis, pool) • FREEZE shot? No (freeze frame) • ECHO shot? No • REFEREE shot? No • APOLLO shot? No • LAG shot? No "___ point": • DROP point? • FREEZE point ✓ (freezing point) • ECHO point? No • SAILOR point? No Hmm, let me try a different angle entirely. Eddie Murphy movies/roles: Hmm, not obvious here. "The ___ Diaries": Princess Diaries, Vampire Diaries... just one. Things associated with birthday parties: CANDLES (on cake), PRINCESS (costume/theme), GENIE (wish), MIME (entertainment), MONKEY (animal), PARROT (pirate theme?)... too loose. Let me reconsider. The puzzle has exactly 4 groups of 4. Let me try to identify the clearest groups: Group 1 - Aladdin characters: GENIE, MONKEY, PARROT, PRINCESS (Genie, Abu the monkey, Iago the parrot, Princess Jasmine) Group 2 - MR. ___: FANTASTIC, FREEZE, MIME, + ? Need a fourth. Let me think harder... • MR. ECHO (Lost) - possible but obscure • MR. APOLLO? No • MR. REFEREE? No • MR. PRISONER? No • MR. CANDLES? No • MR. SAMURAI? No • MR. SAILOR? No • MR. DROP? No • MR. LAG? No • MR. ROBOT? Not here Hmm, what about MR. REFEREE - actually no. What about checking if any of these could be "MR." in a less obvious way? MR. T? T isn't here. MR. BIG? MR. BEAN? Wait - what if it's not "MR." but another title? "CAPTAIN ___": Captain FANTASTIC (movie/Elton John album) ✓, Captain APOLLO (Battlestar Galactica) ✓, Captain AMERICA? No. Captain HOOK? No. • Captain FANTASTIC • Captain APOLLO • Captain FREEZE? (Captain Cold?) • Captain MIME? No • Captain ECHO? No • Captain REFEREE? Captain REF? No • Captain SAMURAI? No • Captain CANDLES? No • Captain PRISONER? No • Captain SAILOR? No • Captain DROP? No • Captain LAG? No Only two strong ones. "DOCTOR ___": No strong matches. "LADY ___": Lady GAGA? No. Lady PRISONER? No. "KING ___": King KONG (MONKEY)? No, MONKEY isn't KONG. "SAILOR ___": SAILOR Moon is one. But SAILOR is the word, not what follows it. Hmm, what if the categories involve what comes BEFORE the word? "___ MOON": SAILOR Moon, ECHO Moon? HALF Moon? APOLLO Moon? (Apollo went to the moon!) • SAILOR Moon ✓ • APOLLO (went to the moon, but "Apollo Moon" isn't a title) • ECHO Moon? No • FULL Moon, HALF Moon, NEW Moon... Words that can follow "FRENCH": • French DROP ✓ (juggling/magic move) • French CANDLES? No • No strong pattern Wait, what if words can be preceded by "freeze"? No, FREEZE is one of the words. Let me try: what TV shows, movies, or characters are these? • APOLLO: Battlestar Galactica (Callsign Apollo), Rocky (Apollo Creed), Apollo 13 • ECHO: Lost (Mr. Eko), Marvel (Echo), Amazon show Echo, Greek myth • CANDLES: Sixteen Candles (movie) • SAMURAI: Seven Samurai, The Last Samurai, Jack (Samurai Jack) • SAILOR: Sailor Moon, sailor • PRISONER: The Prisoner (TV show), • REFEREE: The Ref (movie) • MIME: Mr. Mime (Pokémon), Marcel Marceau • FREEZE: Mr. Freeze (Batman), Vanilla Ice "Ice Ice Baby" - "stop, collaborate and listen... will it ever stop? yo, I don't know... freeze" • FANTASTIC: Mr. Fantastic (Marvel), Captain Fantastic, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Mr. Fox • DROP: various • LAG: jet lag • GENIE: Aladdin, I Dream of Jeannie (spelled differently) • MONKEY: various - 12 Monkeys, Monkey Island, Arctic Monkeys • PARROT: Dead Parrot (Monty Python), Iago (Aladdin) • PRINCESS: Princess Jasmine (Aladdin), Princess Leia, various Disney princesses Hmm, what if the connection is "___ Jack": • SAILOR Jack (Cracker Jack mascot?) • SAMURAI Jack ✓ (cartoon) • MONKEY Jack? No • CANDLE Jack? (Freakazoid!) ✓ • APOLLO Jack? No • PRISONER Jack? No • DROP Jack? No • ECHO Jack? No • LAG Jack? LUMBERJACK? No • FREEZE Jack? FLAPJACK? No • CRACKER Jack - no CRACKER here • CAPTAIN Jack? What about "___ JACK": • SAMURAI Jack ✓ • CRACKER Jack ✓ (but no CRACKER) • FLAPJACK (FLAP + JACK) • LUMBERJACK • BLACKJACK • HIJACK Hmm, doesn't work with 4 words. Let me try words inside other words: • SAMURAI has "MURAL" in it? No... S-A-M-U-R-A-I • PRISONER has "PRISON" obviously • FANTASTIC has "FAN" and "ANTIC" • REFEREE has "REF" and "FREE" What if the pattern is compound words or hidden words? • REFEREE → REF + FREE → contains FREE • PRISONER → PRISON + ER → contains PRISON • FANTASTIC → FAN + TASTIC → contains FAN • CANDLES → CANDLE + S → contains CANDLE That's not a group. Hidden words: • REFEREE: FREE is hidden (reFREE) • FREEZE: FREE is hidden (FREEze) • FANTASTIC: ANT is hidden (fANTastic)? FAN? • SAILOR: SAIL, AIL • PRISONER: RISO, SON, RISE? • SAMURAI: AMUR, MURA • CANDLES: CANDLE, AND • ECHO: no hidden words (too short) • MIME: no • APOLLO: POLL • LAG: no • DROP: no • MONKEY: MONK, KEY, ONE (mONEy? No, monKEY) • PARROT: PARR, ARR (pirate!) • GENIE: GENE, NIE • PRINCESS: PRINCE, RINSE Hidden animals?: • MONKEY: MONKEY itself is an animal • PARROT: PARROT itself is an animal • SAMURAI: RAM hidden? S-A-M-U-R-A-I... no clear animal • PRISONER: no animal • CANDLES: no • FANTASTIC: ANT? fANTastic! ✓ • REFEREE: REFerEE... REEF? no, FREE? EMU? rEfErEE... no • APOLLO: no clear animal • FREEZE: no • ECHO: ECHidna? No, that's ECHIDNA • LAG: no • DROP: no • SAILOR: no • MIME: no • GENIE: no • PRINCESS: no Hidden animals in words: • FANTASTIC → ANT (f-ANT-astic) ✓ • PARROT → contains the animal PARROT itself (doesn't count) • MONKEY → contains the animal MONKEY itself • PRINCESS → doesn't contain a hidden animal • SAMURAI → RAM? S-A-M-U-R-A-I → no, the letters R-A-M aren't consecutive... actually s-a-M-U-R-A-i... no, MURA isn't an animal Hmm wait: • FREEZE → EWE? FR-E-E-Z-E → no • PRISONER → PIG? No. LION? No. ASS? priSONer? SON isn't animal. • Let me look again more carefully: - LAG: LAG... LAMB? no. - FANTASTIC: fANTastic - ANT ✓ - DROP: DROP... no animal - SAILOR: sAILor - doesn't make an animal. - ECHO: ECHidna? No. - CANDLES: no animal - FREEZE: no animal - MIME: no animal (too short) - PRISONER: priSONer... no - SAMURAI: sAMURAI... AMUR? That's a river, not animal (well, Amur leopard, but...) - REFEREE: no animal - APOLLO: aPOLLO... POLL? No animal. What about APOLLO → OX? A-P-O-L-L-O → no - GENIE: no - MONKEY: no hidden animal besides itself - PARROT: no hidden animal besides itself - PRINCESS: no Only ANT in FANTASTIC. Not enough for a category. Let me try another approach. What words contain other smaller words that might form a category? Actually, wait. Let me reconsider MR. ___. What if one of the less obvious ones works? Searching my memory: • MR. FANTASTIC ✓ (Fantastic Four) • MR. FREEZE ✓ (Batman villain) • MR. MIME ✓ (Pokémon) • MR. ECHO ✓ (Lost character - though spelled "Eko") • MR. APOLLO? No • MR. REFEREE? No • MR. PRISONER? No • MR. SAMURAI? No • MR. CANDLES? No • MR. SAILOR? No • MR. DROP? No • MR. LAG? No OK, if the Lost character counts despite spelling difference, then MR. ___ could be: FANTASTIC, FREEZE, MIME, ECHO. Or wait, what about: • MR. FANTASTIC • MR. FREEZE • MR. MIME • MR. BEAN? No BEAN. • MR. BURNS? No BURNS. What about MR. REFEREE? In some contexts, players call the referee "Mr. Referee." But that's not a character name. What about MR. PRISONER? No. What about MR. T? T isn't here. What about names from specific franchises? Pokémon: MR. MIME is a Pokémon. Are there others? • ECHO? No Pokémon named Echo • FREEZE? No (there's Articuno for ice) • MIME JR. is another one, but that uses MIME again DC villains (Batman specifically): • MR. FREEZE ✓ • POISON IVY? No • Could PARROT be PENGUIN? No • ECHO? No • MIME? No Marvel characters: • MR. FANTASTIC ✓ • ECHO ✓ (Maya Lopez, a Marvel character) Hmm, what if the category is broader? Like fictional characters with "MR." title: • MR. FANTASTIC (Marvel) • MR. FREEZE (DC) • MR. MIME (Pokémon) • MR. ??? What about MR. DROP? MR. LAG? None of these work. Let me try thinking about what else connects ECHO to things: Amazon Echo (Alexa) → voice assistant. ECHO, ALEXA, ... Greek mythology: ECHO (nymph), APOLLO (god), ... NARCISSUS? GENIE is not Greek. PRINCESS could be Andromeda? Wait: ECHO and APOLLO are both from Greek mythology. What other words could be Greek myth related? • ECHO ✓ (nymph) • APOLLO ✓ (god) • NARCISSUS? Not here • MIME? (Mimus? Momus?) Not really • PRINCESS? (Generic, but Ariadne, Andromeda were princesses) • SAILOR? (Odysseus? Jason?) • MONKEY? No • PARROT? No • GENIE? No (Arabian) • CANDLES? No • FANTASTIC? No • FREEZE? No • LAG? No • DROP? No • REFEREE? No • SAMURAI? No (Japanese) • PRISONER? (Prometheus?) Stretching Only ECHO and APOLLO clearly fit Greek mythology. Not enough for a group of 4. Hmm, let me reconsider. What if ECHO and APOLLO are both in the same group but not for Greek mythology reasons? Space missions/programs: APOLLO (space program), ECHO (Echo satellites), MERCURY? No. GEMINI? No. • APOLLO ✓ • ECHO ✓ (Echo 1, Echo 2 - satellite programs) • What else? • SAILOR? No. • EXPLORER? Not here. • PIONEER? Not here. • RANGER? Not here. NASA programs: APOLLO, ECHO... only 2. Amazon products: Echo (Alexa), Kindle, Fire... No other words match. Call of Duty terms: DROP (supply drop), LAG, FREEZE, ECHO (team name?)... OK let me try yet another approach. Let me think about what can precede a common word: "___ BAR": • MONKEY bar ✓ • DROP bar ✓ (cycling) • SAILOR bar? No (salad bar?) • ECHO bar? No • CANDLE bar? No • Others? Not obvious "___ SUIT": • MONKEY suit ✓ (tuxedo) • SAILOR suit ✓ • PRISONER suit? (not standard, "prison suit") • No others obvious "___ SHIP": • No strong pattern "___ MAN" or "___ WOMAN": • ECHO man? No • SAILOR man (Popeye the Sailor Man) ✓ • MONKEY man? • REFEREE man? No • APOLLO man? No • PRISONER man? No • SAMURAI man? No • CANDLE man? CANDLEMAN? • DROP man? No • LAG man? No • FREEZE man? No • FANTASTIC man? No Only SAILOR man is clear. "___ FISH": • PARROT fish ✓ • MONKEY fish? No • ANGEL fish? No ANGEL • SWORD fish? No SWORD • SAILOR fish? No • FREEZE fish? No "___ HOUSE": • MONKEY house? No (well, maybe in a zoo) • ECHO house? No • CANDLE house? No • PRISON house? Not PRISONER • DROP house? No Hmm. Let me try "___ BALL": • CANDLE ball? No • DROP ball ✓ (dropping the ball) • MONKEY ball ✓ (Super Monkey Ball) • GENIE ball? • FREEZE ball? No • Not a clear group of 4 Words that follow "KARATE": No, that's too specific. Things at a circus: MIME, MONKEY, SAMURAI (sword swallower?), GENIE, PARROT, REFEREE (ringmaster?)... Things at a children's party: MIME (entertainment), CANDLES (on cake), PRINCESS (costume), GENIE (wish), PARROT (pet?), MONKEY (animal), FREEZE (freeze dance game)... Actually, party games for kids: • FREEZE (freeze dance) ✓ • MIME / charades ✓ • PARROT (parrot game - repeat what's said) ✓? • MONKEY (monkey in the middle) ✓? • PRISONER (prisoner's base) ✓? • ECHO? • SAMURAI (samurai game) ✓? • DROP? Hmm, there are too many that could work. Let me narrow down. Specifically, children's party games: • Musical FREEZE (freeze when music stops) • MIME (act out something) • PARROT (repeat game) • SAMURAI (the samurai game where you go around a circle) • PRISONER (prisoner's base) • MONKEY (monkey in the middle) Let me think differently. What if these words can all follow or precede a SPECIFIC word? "BANANA": • No clear matches "ICE": • ICE DROP? No • ICE CANDLES? No "FREE ___": • FREEZE = FREE + ZE? No, FREEZE is its own word • FREEDOM? • FREEFALL? No "___ PUNCH": • SAMURAI Punch? No • MONKEY Punch (Lupin III creator) ✓ • SUCKER Punch? No SUCKER • DROP Punch? No "___ WRENCH": MONKEY wrench ✓. Only one. "___ BUSINESS": MONKEY business ✓. REFEREE business? No. OK, I keep going in circles. Let me step back and try to be more systematic. I'll list potential group connections: Aladdin: GENIE, MONKEY (Abu), PARROT (Iago), PRINCESS (Jasmine) — STRONG MR. ___: FANTASTIC, FREEZE, MIME, + ? — NEED 4th For the MR. group, let me think more broadly about less obvious ones: • MR. SMITH → no SMITH • MR. T → no T • MR. ROBOT → no ROBOT • MR. BEAN → no BEAN • MR. BURNS → no BURNS • MR. MAGOO → no MAGOO • MR. ROGERS → no ROGERS • MR. MISTER → no MISTER • MR. CLEAN → no CLEAN • MR. BIG → no BIG • MR. OLYMPIA → no, but APOLLO? Mr. Apollo? - Actually, "Mr. Apollo" - is that a thing? There used to be a "Mr. Apollo" strongman/bodybuilding competition or character? Let me think... - Actually no, the famous bodybuilding competition is "Mr. Olympia," not "Mr. Apollo." - But wait - there was a song or character called "Mr. Apollo"? I recall there might be something... - Actually, in the Monty Python sketch, there's "Mr. Apollo" I think? Or is it a song by The Divine Comedy? Hmm, I'm not confident about MR. APOLLO. Let me check other possibilities: • MR. SAMURAI? No • MR. CANDLES? No • MR. REFEREE? No • MR. SAILOR? No • MR. PRISONER? No • MR. LAG? No • MR. DROP? No • MR. ECHO? From Lost (Mr. Eko) I think MR. ECHO (from Lost) is the most likely 4th member despite the spelling difference (Eko vs Echo). But I'm not very confident. Let me consider if the category might be something other than "MR. ___": What if it's "___" characters from a specific franchise? Batman villains: MR. FREEZE, PENGUIN, POISON IVY, RIDDLER... • Only FREEZE fits clearly. Fantastic Four members: MR. FANTASTIC... that's a Marvel thing. INVISIBLE WOMAN, HUMAN TORCH, THE THING. • Only FANTASTIC fits. Pokémon: MR. MIME... • Only MIME fits for Pokémon. So these three are connected by "MR." being the common prefix across different franchises. The fourth must also be "MR. ___" from some franchise. Let me think about ALL "MR." characters: • MR. FANTASTIC (Marvel) • MR. FREEZE (DC) • MR. MIME (Pokémon) • MR. T (A-Team) • MR. BURNS (Simpsons) • MR. BEAN (British comedy) • MR. ROGERS (TV) • MR. MIYAGI (Karate Kid) • MR. SMITH (Matrix) • MR. OLYMPIA (bodybuilding) • MR. MAGOO (cartoon) • MR. MXYZPTLK (DC) • MR. ECHO / EKO (Lost) • MR. CLEAN (brand) • MR. WORLDWIDE (Pitbull) • MR. POPPER (Mr. Popper's Penguins) • MR. NOBODY (movie) • MR. ROBOT (TV show) • MR. JONES (song) • MR. BRIGHTSIDE (song) • MR. SANDMAN (song) • MR. BIG (Sex and the City) • MR. GLASS (Unbreakable) • MR. HYDE (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) • MR. DARCY (Pride and Prejudice) • MR. MONOPOLY (Monopoly) From the available words: LAG, DROP, SAILOR, ECHO, CANDLES, PRISONER, SAMURAI, REFEREE, APOLLO • MR. ECHO/EKO (Lost) - possible • MR. APOLLO - I found it! There's actually a character named "Mr. Apollo" in some contexts • MR. SAMURAI - there might be something? "Mr. Samurai" doesn't ring a bell • MR. REFEREE - no • MR. PRISONER - no • MR. CANDLES - no • MR. SAILOR - no • MR. DROP - no • MR. LAG - no I think MR. ECHO is the strongest candidate for the 4th. Actually, hold on. Let me reconsider. What if the group is not "MR. ___"? What if these words all can have a DIFFERENT common word before them? "STREET ___": • Street FIGHTER? No FIGHTER • Street SAMURAI ✓ (Shadowrun term?) • Street MIME? No • Street REFEREE? No "FRENCH ___": • French DROP ✓ (a juggling/magic move) • French MIME ✓ (miming is French) • French CANDLES? (French vanilla candles? No, that's stretching) • French PRISONER? (like prisoner of the Bastille?) No standard term • French SAILOR? No • French ECHO? No "___" DANCE: • FREEZE dance ✓ • MONKEY dance? ✓ • SAILOR dance? ✓ (Sailor's Hornpipe) • DROP dance? No • ECHO dance? No • MIME dance? No • SAMURAI dance? No Not a clean group. "KEY ___": KEY DROP ✓, KEY MONKEY (monkey wrench)? No. "SPEED ___": No good matches. "FLASH ___": FLASH FREEZE ✓, FLASH MIME? No, FLASH POINT, FLASH DANCE... Let me try "GOLDEN ___": • GOLDEN ECHO? (Kimbra album? Song?) • GOLDEN MONKEY ✓ (golden snub-nosed monkey, Golden Monkey beer) • GOLDEN PRINCESS? (cruise ship) • GOLDEN GENIE? No • GOLDEN SAMURAI? No • GOLDEN REFEREE? No • GOLDEN CANDLES? No Hmm, not productive. Let me try "SAILOR ___": • SAILOR MOON ✓ (anime) • But this would need SAILOR to connect to other words, not be a category member. OK, let me try a completely different approach. What if I look for less obvious connections? Words associated with karaoke/singing: ECHO (echo effect), FREEZE (stage fright), CANDLES (lighting), MIME (lip sync), DROP (beat drop), MICROPHONE... Things in a courtroom: PRISONER, REFEREE (judge?), ECHO (echo chamber), LAG? Things associated with magic: GENIE, CANDLES, PRINCESS (fairy tale), MIME (illusion?), DROP (trap door), ECHO (mirror?), SAMURAI (sword swallowing?) Things that can be "time ___": time LAG ✓, time FREEZE ✓, time DROP? (time warp?), time ECHO? No. OK, here's another idea. What if the groups relate to specific games? Charades: In charades, you MIME, you might FREEZE to indicate something, you... hmm. What about words that precede "FRAME"? • FREEZE frame ✓ • DROP frame ✓ (drop-frame timecode in video) • TIME frame ✓ (but TIME isn't a word here) • ECHO frame? No • DOOR frame? No Only 2 fit. Words that precede "ZONE"? • DROP zone ✓ • FREEZE zone? No (frozen zone?) • END zone ✓ (but no END) • WAR zone (no WAR) • ECHO zone? No Words that precede "POINT"? • DROP point ✓ (dead drop point) • FREEZE point ✓ (freezing point) • GUN point (no GUN) • FOCAL point • LAG point? No • ECHO point? No Only 2 fit. Words that precede "OUT"? • DROP out ✓ • FREEZE out ✓ (cold shoulder) • ECHO out? No • LAG out? No • MONKEY out? No • BAIL out, BURN out, WASH out... Only 2 fit. Words that precede "DRIED"? No. Words that precede "PLAY"?: • MONKEY play? No • SAILOR play? No • ECHO play? No • FAIR play? No fair here • SWORD play? No SWORD • ROLE play? No ROLE Hmm. Let me try words that follow a word: "COPY ___"? No. "PAR ___": PARROT = PAR + ROT. No. "MICRO ___": No. "EAR ___": EARDROP ✓ (ear + DROP). Only one. OK, I think I need to take a step back and think about what the NYT Connections puzzle typically does. The categories are usually: 1. A straightforward category (like "types of fruit") 2. A "___ word" or "word ___" category (like "words that follow 'fire'") 3. A tricky category (like "things that can mean 'zero'") 4. A very tricky category (like "hidden words") Let me reconsider with this framework. Given: LAG, FANTASTIC, DROP, SAILOR, ECHO, CANDLES, FREEZE, MONKEY, MIME, PRINCESS, PARROT, PRISONER, SAMURAI, GENIE, REFEREE, APOLLO Straightforward category: Things in Aladdin: GENIE, MONKEY, PARROT, PRINCESS ✓ "MR. ___" category: FANTASTIC, FREEZE, MIME, ECHO (or APOLLO?) Movie titles "__ [number]": • APOLLO 13 • Sixteen CANDLES • Seven SAMURAI • Could work with... The PRISONER (Number 6)? LAG? DROP? • 12 Monkeys would be MONKEY... • But MONKEY is in Aladdin group • Actually wait, if MONKEY is in the movie-number group, then Aladdin would need a different 4th member Hmm, let me reconsider. What if MONKEY isn't in the Aladdin group? Aladdin characters: GENIE, PARROT (Iago), PRINCESS (Jasmine), MONKEY (Abu), SAILOR?, PRISONER (Jafar in prison?), SAMURAI?... Actually, the strongest 4 for Aladdin are GENIE, MONKEY, PARROT, PRINCESS. Abu is definitely a monkey, Iago is a parrot, Jasmine is a princess, and Genie is a genie. Movie + number: • APOLLO 13 • Seven SAMURAI • Sixteen CANDLES • What's the 4th? - REFEREE? The Ref (1994 movie)? No number. - DROP? Drop Zone? Drop Dead Fred? No specific number. - LAG? Jet Lag? No number. - SAILOR? Sailor Moon? No specific number. - PRISONER? The Prisoner (Cell block 99)? Or "Prisoner of Azkaban" (book 3)? - ECHO? - FANTASTIC? Fantastic Four! Wait - FANTASTIC Four is number 4! But I had FANTASTIC in the MR. group... So there's a conflict: FANTASTIC could be in "MR. FANTASTIC" or "FANTASTIC Four (4)." Let me reconsider: Movie/show titles with numbers: • APOLLO 13 • FANTASTIC Four (4) • Seven SAMURAI • Sixteen CANDLES That's exactly 4! And these are all well-known movie titles with numbers. Then MR. ___ would need 4 from the remaining: Remaining: LAG, DROP, SAILOR, ECHO, FREEZE, MONKEY, MIME, PRINCESS, PARROT, PRISONER, REFEREE, GENIE MR. FREEZE ✓, MR. MIME ✓, MR. ECHO ✓ (from Lost), and... • MR. PARROT? No • MR. MONKEY? No • MR. REFEREE? No • MR. PRISONER? No • MR. SAILOR? No • MR. GENIE? No • MR. PRINCESS? No • MR. DROP? No • MR. LAG? No Only 3 for MR. group. Unless FANTASTIC is in MR. group and something else is in the number group. Hmm, let me reconsider. What if the "number" group is: • APOLLO 13 • Seven SAMURAI • Sixteen CANDLES • 12 MONKEY(S) (12 Monkeys) Then FANTASTIC is free for MR. group: FANTASTIC, FREEZE, MIME, + ? But we still need a 4th for MR. group. And MONKEY/PRINCESS/PARROT/GENIE for Aladdin... Wait, if MONKEY is in the "number" group (12 Monkeys), then Aladdin loses MONKEY. Can Aladdin still have 4? Aladdin characters: GENIE, PARROT (Iago), PRINCESS (Jasmine), and... • SAILOR (sailor? In Aladdin there are merchants but not specifically a sailor character... wait, actually, Prince Ali comes on a ship? No. Sinbad the Sailor is a different story.) • SAMURAI? No • REFEREE? No • PRISONER? (Genie is kind of a prisoner of the lamp?) • LAG? No • DROP? No • ECHO? No • FREEZE? No • MIME? No Hmm, without MONKEY, Aladdin doesn't cleanly have 4 members. OK, so maybe the groups are: Group A - Aladdin: GENIE, MONKEY, PARROT, PRINCESS (strongest fit) Group B - "___ [number]" movies: APOLLO 13, FANTASTIC Four, Seven SAMURAI, Sixteen CANDLES (or substitute one) Group C - MR. ___: FREEZE, MIME, + 2 others But Group C only has 2 strong members without FANTASTIC and ECHO. Unless... I'm wrong about one of the groups. Wait, what if ECHO is in the MR. group? Then: Group C - MR. ___: FREEZE, MIME, ECHO, + 1 more We still need a 4th. From remaining: LAG, DROP, SAILOR, PRISONER, REFEREE • MR. REFEREE → not a thing • MR. PRISONER → not a thing • MR. SAILOR → not a thing • MR. LAG → not a thing • MR. DROP → not a thing None work! So either ECHO is not in the MR. group, or FANTASTIC must be in the MR. group. If FANTASTIC is in MR. group: MR. FANTASTIC, MR. FREEZE, MR. MIME, MR. ??? The 4th must come from: LAG, DROP, SAILOR, ECHO, CANDLES, PRISONER, SAMURAI, REFEREE, APOLLO Hmm, MR. ECHO seems like the only option... So: MR. ___: FANTASTIC, FREEZE, MIME, ECHO Then the number-movie group would be from: LAG, DROP, SAILOR, CANDLES, PRISONER, SAMURAI, REFEREE, APOLLO • APOLLO 13 ✓ • Seven SAMURAI ✓ • Sixteen CANDLES ✓ • ??? REFEREE? DROP? LAG? SAILOR? PRISONER? For the 4th: • REFEREE → The REFEREE? Any movie with a number? No clear one. • DROP → DROP Dead? The DROP? No number. • LAG → JET LAG? No number. Or "LAG" as in... hmm. • SAILOR → SAILOR Moon? Not a number. • PRISONER → PRISONER of Azkaban (#3)? Or "The PRISONER" (Number 6)? - Actually, "Prisoner Cell Block H"? Or "The Prisoner" where the main character is Number 6? - Or "PRISONER" → could be part of a movie/show with a number • REFEREE → Referee... #12 man? Wear specific numbers? Hmm, what about less obvious ones: • OCEAN'S ELEVEN → ELEVEN? No. • THE DIRTY DOZEN → DOZEN? No. • LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN → SLEVIN? No. What if it's not just movies but any title/phrase: • CATCH 22 → no CATCH • APOLLO 13 ✓ • Channel FOUR? FIVE? • PIER 39? No PIER Hmm, what about: • APOLLO → APOLLO 13 • SAMURAI → Seven SAMURAI • CANDLES → Sixteen CANDLES • PRISONER → PRISONER Cell Block H (1979)? Doesn't have a well-known number • SAILOR → SAILOR Moon (not a number title per se) • REFEREE → ? • DROP → ? • LAG → ? Wait, what about "The ___": • The PRISONER → #6 • The REFEREE → ? Actually, I wonder if the connection is broader. What about words that are part of a TITLE (movie, TV, song, etc.) that also includes a NUMBER? • APOLLO 13 (movie) • Seven SAMURAI (movie) • Sixteen CANDLES (movie) • SAILOR Moon? (Moon isn't a number) • The PRISONER → "Number 6" is a character, but "The Prisoner" is the title • Twelve Angry Men? No "Men" here Let me think about this differently. What NUMBER movies can be made with these words? • APOLLO → Apollo 13 (13) • SAMURAI → Seven Samurai (7) • CANDLES → Sixteen Candles (16) • DROP → Drop Dead? (no number) • SAILOR → ? • PRISONER → ? • REFEREE → ? • LAG → ? • ECHO → ? • FANTASTIC → Fantastic Four (4) • FREEZE → ? • MIME → ? • MONKEY → 12 Monkeys (12) • PARROT → ? • PRINCESS → Princess Diaries? (no number) • GENIE → ? Candidates for "title + number": APOLLO (13), SAMURAI (7), CANDLES (16), FANTASTIC (4), MONKEY (12) That's 5! One too many. But I'm fairly confident about Aladdin having MONKEY, so... Unless the "number" group is: APOLLO, SAMURAI, CANDLES, + one of {FANTASTIC or MONKEY} And the MR. group includes the other. If MR. group = FANTASTIC, FREEZE, MIME, + 4th Number group = APOLLO, SAMURAI, CANDLES, MONKEY Then MR. group needs a 4th from: LAG, DROP, SAILOR, ECHO, PRISONER, REFEREE → MR. ECHO is the best option, but it's MR. EKO (Lost) If MR. group = FREEZE, MIME, ECHO, + 4th Number group = APOLLO, SAMURAI, CANDLES, FANTASTIC Then MR. group needs a 4th from: LAG, DROP, SAILOR, MONKEY, PRISONER, REFEREE → No good MR. option Hmm, so MR. ECHO seems necessary regardless. But it's a stretch. Actually, wait. I've been assuming "Aladdin" is a group, but what if it's not? Let me reconsider. What if the groups are: 1. Title + number: APOLLO (13), CANDLES (16), SAMURAI (7), MONKEY (12) 2. MR. ___: FANTASTIC, FREEZE, MIME, ECHO 3. Something: GENIE, PRINCESS, PARROT, + 1 4. Something: LAG, DROP, SAILOR, PRISONER, REFEREE, + ? For group 3, if not Aladdin, what connects GENIE, PRINCESS, PARROT? • GENIE, PRINCESS, PARROT... • Pantomime characters! In British pantomime (panto): - PRINCESS (the princess) - GENIE (from Aladdin panto) - PARROT (from Peter Pan panto? Or Treasure Island) - DAME (the pantomime dame) - VILLAIN - And actually, MIME is related to pantomime! Hmm wait, but MIME might be in the MR. group. Pantomime: MIME, PRINCESS, GENIE, PARROT? Or these are all things in a pantomime? Actually, wait. A MIME mimes. A PARROT repeats (parroting). An ECHO repeats. What else means "repeat" or "copy"? • MIME (to mime = to imitate) • PARROT (to parrot = to repeat) • ECHO (to echo = to repeat) • MONKEY (monkey see, monkey do = to imitate/copy) • APE (to ape = to imitate) - not here Oh! MIME, PARROT, ECHO, MONKEY all mean "to copy/repeat/imitate"! • ECHO = to repeat/reflect sound • MIME = to imitate without words • PARROT = to repeat mindlessly • MONKEY = "monkey see, monkey do" = to imitate • APE = to imitate (but APE isn't here) That's exactly 4: ECHO, MIME, PARROT, MONKEY! This changes everything. Let me rebuild: Group 1 - Words meaning "to copy/imitate": ECHO, MIME, PARROT, MONKEY Group 2 - Title + number (movies): APOLLO (13), CANDLES (16), SAMURAI (7), FANTASTIC (4) Group 3 - MR. ___: FREEZE, + 3 others from remaining Remaining after groups 1 & 2: LAG, DROP, SAILOR, FREEZE, PRINCESS, PRISONER, GENIE, REFEREE MR. FREEZE ✓, MR. PRISONER? No, MR. GENIE? No, MR. REFEREE? No, MR. SAILOR? No, MR. DROP? No, MR. LAG? No, MR. PRINCESS? No Only 1 MR.! That doesn't work. Unless... Let me reconsider. Maybe FREEZE isn't in the MR. group. Maybe it's somewhere else. Hmm, but MR. FREEZE is such a well-known character. Let me reconsider which words mean "to copy": • ECHO ✓ • MIME ✓ • PARROT ✓ • MONKEY ✓ (monkey see, monkey do) These 4 are strong. But this means MR. FANTASTIC, MR. FREEZE, MR. MIME can't ALL be in one group, because MIME is in the "copy" group. OR... MIME could be in the MR. group and not the "copy" group, if there's another word that means "copy." Words meaning "to copy/imitate": ECHO, PARROT, MONKEY, + ? • MIME is the obvious 4th, but if MIME is in MR. group... • APE = imitate, but APE isn't here • REFEREE? SAILOR? PRISONER? GENIE? PRINCESS? None of these mean "to copy" • DROP? LAG? FREEZE? CANDLES? SAMURAI? APOLLO? FANTASTIC? None mean "to copy" straightforwardly • Actually, FREEZE could mean "freeze frame" which is sort of a copy/snapshot? No, that's a stretch. So if "copy/imitate" is a group, it almost certainly includes ECHO, PARROT, MONKEY, MIME. This means MR. group CAN'T have MIME. So MR. group would be: FANTASTIC, FREEZE, + 2 from {LAG, DROP, SAILOR, CANDLES, PRINCESS, PRISONER, SAMURAI, GENIE, REFEREE, APOLLO} MR. ___: • MR. FANTASTIC ✓ • MR. FREEZE ✓ • MR. LAG? No • MR. DROP? No • MR. SAILOR? No • MR. CANDLES? No • MR. PRINCESS? No (well, there is the concept of "Mr. Princess" in some comedies? No) • MR. PRISONER? No • MR. SAMURAI? No • MR. GENIE? No • MR. REFEREE? No • MR. APOLLO? Hmm, possibly? I can't find a 3rd and 4th MR. So maybe MR. isn't a category at all! Let me reconsider. Maybe the categories are: 1. Words meaning "copy/imitate": ECHO, MIME, PARROT, MONKEY 2. Movie title + number: APOLLO (13), CANDLES (16), SAMURAI (7), FANTASTIC (4) - or MONKEY (12) 3. ???: involves some of {LAG, DROP, SAILOR, FREEZE, PRINCESS, PRISONER, GENIE, REFEREE} 4. ???: the remaining 4 If group 2 has APOLLO, CANDLES, SAMURAI, FANTASTIC (or one of them swapped with MONKEY): If MONKEY is in group 1 (copy), then group 2 is APOLLO, CANDLES, SAMURAI, FANTASTIC. Remaining 8 for groups 3 & 4: LAG, DROP, SAILOR, FREEZE, PRINCESS, PRISONER, GENIE, REFEREE What connects 4 of these? Costume/fancy dress: SAILOR, PRINCESS, PRISONER, REFEREE? → These are all things you could dress up as! • SAILOR ✓ (sailor costume) • PRINCESS ✓ (princess costume) • PRISONER ✓ (prisoner/convict costume, black and white stripes) • REFEREE ✓ (referee costume, black and white stripes) • GENIE ✓ (genie costume) That's 5! Too many. But wait: SAILOR, PRINCESS, PRISONER, REFEREE, GENIE are all costumes. And there might be a more specific connection. Black and white striped costumes: PRISONER ✓ (black & white stripes), REFEREE ✓ (black & white stripes), MIME ✓ (often wears stripes), but MIME is in group 1... Hmm, actually PRISONER and REFEREE both wear black and white stripes. Who else? • SAILOR? (sailor suits are typically navy/white, not striped) • MIME? (mimes often wear stripes, beret) • ZEBRA? (not here) Just 2 strong black-and-white-stripe matches. Things with stripes: PRISONER, REFEREE, SAILOR (navy/white stripes), + ? Let me think about another connection for the remaining 8: LAG, DROP, SAILOR, FREEZE, PRINCESS, PRISONER, GENIE, REFEREE "FREEZE" related things: BRAIN FREEZE, FREEZE FRAME, DEEP FREEZE, FREEZE TAG... What if these are all types of a specific thing? Types of "tag" game: FREEZE tag, ... not enough Types of "pool/billiards" shots: LAG, FREEZE, DROP, PUSH... maybe? Actually, in pool/billiards: • LAG ✓ (lagging to determine who breaks) • FREEZE ✓ (a ball frozen against another or the rail) • DROP ✓ (drop pocket) • ENGLISH? MASSE? CUE? No, these aren't in the remaining words. Hmm, only 3. Expressions with "dead": Dead DROP ✓, Dead FREEZE? Dead GENIE? Dead SAILOR? Dead RINGER? Dead PRINCESS? • Only "dead drop" is standard. Actions in improv theater: FREEZE ✓ (freeze game), ... others? Let me try "___" that can follow "DEEP": • Deep FREEZE ✓ • Deep DROP? No (deep drop fishing? That's a thing!) • Deep SIX? No SIX • Deep END? No • Only 1-2 fit. "___" that can follow "PAY": • PAY DROP? No • PAY FREEZE ✓ • PAY LAG? No • PAY DAY? No DAY • Only 1 fit. Things that can follow "WAGE": • WAGE FREEZE ✓ • WAGE LAG? Maybe in economics • WAGE DROP? Wage drop is a thing • WAGE EARNER? No Hmm, let me try "___" that can follow "PRICE": • PRICE FREEZE ✓ • PRICE DROP ✓ • PRICE LAG ✓ (in economics, price lag is a thing) • PRICE PRISONER? No • PRICE GENIE? No • PRICE REFEREE? No • PRICE SAILOR? No • PRICE PRINCESS? No Three fit: FREEZE, DROP, LAG. Need a 4th. What about other words that could work: PRICE ___ • PRICE TAG? No TAG • PRICE POINT? No POINT • PRICE CUT? No CUT • PRICE WAR? No WAR • PRICE HIKE? No HIKE • PRICE CAP? No CAP • PRICE CEILING? No • PRICE FLOOR? No • PRICE MATCH? No Only 3 from FREEZE, DROP, LAG. "___" that can follow a specific word to make compound/common terms: Let me try "NAME ___": NAME DROP ✓, NAME TAG? NAME LAG? NAME FREEZE? • Only NAME DROP is standard. "___" that can follow "JAW": JAW DROP ✓, JAW LINE? JAW BREAKER? • Only 1. "EGG ___": EGG DROP ✓ (egg drop soup), EGG NOG? • Only 1. "___ KICK": DROP kick ✓, SAILOR kick? FREEZE kick? • Only 1 standard one. "___" that can follow "BACK": BACKDROP ✓, BACKLAG? BACKFREEZE? • Only 1. Hmm, let me try what connects LAG, DROP, SAILOR, FREEZE, PRINCESS, PRISONER, GENIE, REFEREE (the remaining 8 after groups 1 and 2): These need to split into two groups of 4. Potential group: SAILOR, PRINCESS, PRISONER, REFEREE — all things people dress up as? All are roles/occupations/identities? But so are GENIE, MIME, SAMURAI... Wait, what if the connection is more specific? Like "things associated with Halloween costumes" or "things that are common at costume parties"? Actually, what if these are all characters in a game like Clue (Cluedo)? No, Clue characters are Colonel Mustard, Mrs. Peacock, etc. Characters in "Guess Who?": various faces... What if they're all characters you can be in a specific board game or video game? Among Us: PRISONER? No. Among Us doesn't have these roles. Mafia/Werewolf: In the party game Mafia or Werewolf: • GENIE? No • PRINCESS? Yes, some versions have a Princess • SAILOR? Maybe • REFEREE? Like a moderator? Not a strong match. Let me try another angle. What if the connection involves the word "LAMP"? • GENIE → lamp (genie's lamp) • FREEZE → lamp (lava lamp? desk lamp?) • SAILOR → lamp? (sailor's lamp? lantern?) • PRINCESS → lamp? No. What if the words can all follow "FLOOR"? • Floor DROP? No • Floor FREEZE? No What about "HAND ___"? • Handshake? HAND GENIE? No. Wait, I just want to revisit something. Let me look at this from the meta level. In NYT Connections, the four categories are color-coded by difficulty (yellow = easiest, purple = hardest). The easiest category is usually the most obvious. What's the most obvious grouping? Looking at: LAG, FANTASTIC, DROP, SAILOR, ECHO, CANDLES, FREEZE, MONKEY, MIME, PRINCESS, PARROT, PRISONER, SAMURAI, GENIE, REFEREE, APOLLO I think the most obvious groups might be: • Copy/imitate verbs: ECHO, MIME, PARROT, MONKEY (or APE if it were here) • MR. ___: Some subset Or maybe the easiest is: • Aladdin: GENIE, MONKEY, PARROT, PRINCESS Hmm, both are quite accessible. Let me try a completely different approach and look for the PURPLE (hardest) category, which is often a tricky wordplay or hidden connection. Hidden word in each: • FANTASTIC: FAN, ANT, ANTIC • PRISONER: RISER, RISE, SON, PRISM? (no M after PRI)... P-R-I-S-O-N-E-R... PRISON, RISER (no), ONE (prisONEr)? SON (priSONer) • REFEREE: REF, FREE, FEE, ERE • SAMURAI: SAM, MURAL? (no L)... S-A-M-U-R-A-I... SAMURA, AMURAI... MUR, AURA? (sAURAi? no, it's s-a-m-u-r-a-i) Hmm, what if each word contains a hidden shorter word from a specific category? • PRINCESS: PRINCE ✓ (royal title) • REFEREE: FREE ✓ (?) • PRISONER: PRISON ✓ (?) • SAMURAI: ... ? • PARROT: PAR ✓ (golf), or ARROW minus W? • FANTASTIC: FAN ✓ (?) • GENIE: GENE ✓ (biology) • MONKEY: MONK ✓ (religious), KEY ✓ • CANDLES: CANDLE, AND • SAILOR: SAIL ✓, AIL ✓ • ECHO: ? • MIME: ? • FREEZE: FREE ✓ • DROP: ? • LAG: ? • APOLLO: POLL ✓ Words containing a "royal" title: • PRINCESS → PRINCE ✓ • CANDLES → no • SAILOR → no • REFEREE → no • MONKEY → KING? No, M-O-N-K-E-Y Hmm, not enough. Words containing "FREE": • FREEZE → FREE ✓ (FREEze) • REFEREE → FREE ✓ (reFREE) • That's only 2. Words containing a body part: • CANDLES → no • SAILOR → AIL? (not a body part) • MONKEY → no (KNEE? M-O-N-K-E-Y → KNEE? no, K-N-E-E isn't there) • ECHO → no • MIME → no • PARROT → no • GENIE → SHIN? No. KNEE? No. G-E-N-I-E • PRINCESS → SHIN? No. P-R-I-N-C-E-S-S • PRISONER → SHIN? P-R-I-S-O-N-E-R → no • FANTASTIC → no • SAMURAI → no • REFEREE → EAR? R-E-F-E-R-E-E → rEfEREE → ERE? REEF? Not a body part • LAG → no • DROP → no • FREEZE → no • APOLLO → no I don't see body parts hidden. Words containing a number (spelled out): • FANTASTIC → no • PRISONER → no • CANDLES → no • MONKEY → ONE (mONEkey? no, M-O-N-K-E-Y → no ONE in there) • REFEREE → no • SAMURAI → no • GENIE → no • PRINCESS → no • PARROT → no • ECHO → no • MIME → no • SAILOR → no • FREEZE → no • DROP → no • LAG → no • APOLLO → no Hmm, no numbers hidden. Let me try words containing a musical note: • FANTASTIC: FA ✓ (FAnastic → starts with FA, the musical note) Actually DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA, TI/SI • LA: LAG has LA ✓ • RE: REFEREE has RE ✓, FREEZE has RE (fREeze) • MI: MIME has MI ✓ • DO: DROP? D-R-O-P, no DO. • SOL: APOLLO has no SOL... A-P-O-L-L-O • FA: FANTASTIC ✓ (FAN-TASTIC → FA at start... well, FA is in FAN) • TI: PRISONER → priTIoner? No. FANTASTIC → no. CANDLES → no. • SI: SAMURAI → no clear SI Hmm, not a clean pattern. Let me try: words containing names: • APOLLO → APOLLO (name itself) • ECHO → ECHO (name itself, nymph) • GENIE → GENE ✓ (name) • PRINCESS → no common name hidden • PARROT → no • SAMURAI → SAM ✓ (name) • CANDLES → no • REFEREE → no • PRISONER → no • MONKEY → no • MIME → no • FANTASTIC → IAN? (fantastIAN? No, FANT-ASTIC) • SAILOR → no (AILOR?) • FREEZE → no • DROP → no • LAG → no Hmm, SAM in SAMURAI and GENE in GENIE. Let me check more carefully: • SAILOR: S-A-I-L-O-R → AILOR? ILO? LOR? No name I recognize. • CANDLES: C-A-N-D-L-E-S → DAN? (canDLes → no, C-A-N-D-L-E-S → DLES? No. But CAN-DLES → hmm, no DAN) • REFEREE: R-E-F-E-R-E-E → no name clearly • PRISONER: P-R-I-S-O-N-E-R → ISON? RISO? SON? • MONKEY: M-O-N-K-E-Y → MON? KEY? • MIME: M-I-M-E → no • FREEZE: F-R-E-E-Z-E → REE? • DROP: D-R-O-P → no • LAG: L-A-G → no • FANTASTIC: F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C → STAN? (faNTASTic → wait, F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C → "STAN" is hidden: fanTASTic? No... let me look: F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C → positions: NTASTI → no STAN. Actually: fANTASTIC → ANTASTIC... hmm, T-A-S-T → TAST? No STAN. Actually wait: fan-TASTIC → T-A-S-T-I-C → no. Let me spell it out: F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C. Looking for STAN: S-T-A-N → positions 6-7-8? No: A(5)S(6)T(7)I(8)C(9) → ASTIC, not STAN. Hmm, what about positions 4-5-6-7: T-A-S-T? That's TAST. Not STAN. OK, I don't think hidden names is the pattern. Let me try yet another approach. What if I look for words that can follow "DRAG"? No. Let me try words that can precede or follow "RACE": • DROP race? No • DRAG race! But DRAG isn't here • MONKEY race? No • RAT race? No RAT Words that can follow "GOLDEN": • GOLDEN GENIE? No • GOLDEN PRINCESS ✓ (cruise ship) • GOLDEN SAILOR? No • GOLDEN REFEREE? No Words that can follow "COPY": COPYCAT? No. Hmm, I've been going around and around. Let me focus on what I'm most confident about and start guessing. Most confident group: Words meaning "to copy/imitate": ECHO, MIME, PARROT, MONKEY Second most confident: Aladdin characters: GENIE, MONKEY, PARROT, PRINCESS But MONKEY and PARROT appear in both! So only one can be correct. In the "imitate" group: ECHO, MIME, PARROT, MONKEY In the Aladdin group: GENIE, MONKEY, PARROT, PRINCESS These share MONKEY and PARROT. So at most one of these groupings is correct. Hmm, which is more likely to be a NYT Connections category? "Words that mean copy/imitate" is a clean linguistic category: ECHO, MIME, PARROT, MONKEY → all can be verbs meaning to imitate. • "She echoed his sentiments" ✓ • "He mimed the action" ✓ • "She parroted the phrase" ✓ • "He monkeyed the behavior" → hmm, "monkey" as a verb usually means "monkey around" (to fool around), not exactly "to imitate." But "monkey see, monkey do" is about imitation... As a VERB, is "to monkey" = "to imitate"? Not really standard. Actually, let me reconsider. "To ape" means to imitate, but "to monkey"? "Monkey" as a verb means to tamper with or mess around ("stop monkeying with that"). It doesn't standardly mean "to imitate." So maybe the "imitate" group is: ECHO, MIME, PARROT + one more? • ECHO ✓ (to echo) • MIME ✓ (to mime) • PARROT ✓ (to parrot = to repeat) • ??? What else means "to imitate/copy"? - MONKEY → not standard as "imitate" - GENIE? No - PRINCESS? No - REFEREE? No - SAILOR? No - FREEZE? No (freeze = to stop) - DROP? No - LAG? No - CANDLES? No - SAMURAI? No - APOLLO? No - FANTASTIC? No - PRISONER? No - APE = to imitate, but APE isn't a word Hmm, only 3 clean "to imitate" verbs. Unless MONKEY works despite not being standard. OR: What if the connection is different? What if they're all things that create a COPY or REFLECTION? • ECHO (sound reflection) • MIRROR (not here) • PARROT (verbal copy) • MIME (physical copy) • SHADOW (not here) Or what if the category is "ways to repeat": ECHO, PARROT, MIME, + ? • LOOP (not here) • REPLAY (not here) • ENCORE (not here) Let me reconsider. Maybe the Aladdin grouping is correct: GENIE, MONKEY, PARROT, PRINCESS. And then ECHO, MIME are in other groups. Hmm, but what 4 words does ECHO belong to? And MIME? If MR. ___: FANTASTIC, FREEZE, MIME, ??? If not MR, then where does MIME go? And ECHO? If not "imitate" group, where does ECHO go? Let me think about ECHO differently: • ECHO as a name (Greek myth nymph) • ECHO as a satellite (NASA) • ECHO as an Amazon device (Alexa) • ECHO as a sound phenomenon • ECHO in the NATO alphabet (E) And MIME: • MIME as a performer • MIME as a file type (MIME type in computing) • MR. MIME (Pokémon) • MIME = to act silently Alright, here's another idea. What if the category is types of performing artists: • MIME ✓ • GENIE? (Not a performing artist) • SAILOR? (Not a performing artist) • REFEREE? (Not a performing artist) Not enough. People you see on the street: MIME (street mime), BUSKER, JUGGLER... OK let me try a completely different tactic. Let me look for "___ BALL" or "BALL ___": • DROP ball (drop the ball) ✓ • MONKEY ball ✓ (Super Monkey Ball?) • No, not great. "___ DANCE": FREEZE dance? MONKEY dance? SAILOR dance? LAG dance? PRINCESS dance? Words associated with "TAG": • FREEZE tag ✓ • LASER tag (no LASER) • PHONE tag (no PHONE) • PRICE tag (no PRICE) • DOG tag (no DOG) • LAG? Is LAG related to tag? TAG = LAG reversed?? No, TAG reversed is GAT. Wait - ANAGRAMS? • LAG → GAL • DROP → no (PROD? Yes! DROP → PROD) • ECHO → no (EACH? ECHO has letters E,C,H,O → HOCE, OECH... no standard word. Hmm, ECHO → OCHE? That's a darts term!) • MIME → no standard anagram • GENIE → no (GENIE → EINGE? no) • PARROT → no obvious anagram • FREEZE → no (FREEZER minus R? But that changes letters) Hmm, anagrams don't seem to be the pattern. Let me try "___ SHIP": • PRINCESS ship? No, but "Princess" is a cruise line • SAILOR ship? No, but sailors are on ships • DROP ship ✓ (dropship, as in dropshipping) • PRISONER ship? (prison ship exists historically) • No clean group of 4. Things preceded by "OLD": • OLD FLAME → not here • OLD SAILOR? "Old Salt" for an old sailor? • OLD MONKEY? • Not productive. OK, let me try to think about this differently. I'll consider what categories could contain LAG, as it's one of the harder words to place. LAG can mean: 1. Delay (time lag, jet lag) 2. A convict/prisoner (British slang! "old lag" = repeat offender) 3. To lag behind 4. LAG bolt/screw (construction) 5. Lag in billiards Wait! LAG = British slang for prisoner/convict! So LAG and PRISONER might be related? What if there's a group of words that mean "prisoner/convict"? • PRISONER ✓ • LAG ✓ (British slang for convict) • ...what else? • CON (not here) • JAILBIRD (not here) Only 2. What if there's a group of slang terms for something? • LAG = prisoner • MONKEY = £500 (British slang) • Other money slang: GRAND (not here) Hmm. What if there's a group of words meaning "delay"? • LAG ✓ • DROP ✓ (not exactly delay, but "drop off" can mean decrease) • FREEZE ✓ (a freeze can be a pause/hold) • Actually: LAG, FREEZE, ECHO, DROP could all be "problems with audio/video calls" - LAG = delay in connection - FREEZE = screen freezing - DROP = dropped connection/frames - ECHO = audio echo/feedback This is the "video call problems" idea I had earlier. Let me reconsider it. Video call/streaming problems: LAG, FREEZE, DROP, ECHO • You're lagging! ✓ • Your screen froze! ✓ • You dropped out! / The call dropped! ✓ • There's an echo! ✓ This is actually a very clean category! All four words describe common issues with video/audio calls. So my proposed groups: 1. Video call problems: LAG, FREEZE, DROP, ECHO 2. Aladdin characters: GENIE, MONKEY, PARROT, PRINCESS 3. Movie title + number: APOLLO (13), CANDLES (16), SAMURAI (7), FANTASTIC (4) 4. Remaining: SAILOR, MIME, PRISONER, REFEREE What connects SAILOR, MIME, PRISONER, REFEREE? These are all: • People/roles • Costumes? • Things you could dress up as? • Characters in a game? Wait - SAILOR, MIME, PRISONER, REFEREE... A MIME wears black and white stripes (and a beret). A PRISONER wears black and white stripes. A REFEREE wears black and white stripes. A SAILOR wears... navy and white? Stripes? Actually, sailor shirts are traditionally blue and white STRIPED! (Breton stripes!) So: Things associated with black and white stripes (or just STRIPES): • MIME ✓ (classic mime outfit = striped shirt) • PRISONER ✓ (prison uniform = black and white stripes) • REFEREE ✓ (referee uniform = black and white stripes) • SAILOR ✓ (Breton/sailor shirt = stripes) YES! This is an excellent connection! They all wear STRIPED outfits/uniforms! So my four groups: 1. Wear stripes: SAILOR, MIME, PRISONER, REFEREE 2. Video call problems: LAG, FREEZE, DROP, ECHO 3. Aladdin characters (by type): GENIE, MONKEY, PARROT, PRINCESS 4. "___ [number]" movies: APOLLO (13), CANDLES (16), SAMURAI (7), FANTASTIC (4) Let me verify each: 1. SAILOR (Breton stripes), MIME (striped shirt), PRISONER (striped uniform), REFEREE (striped shirt) ✓ 2. LAG (delay), FREEZE (screen freeze), DROP (dropped call), ECHO (audio echo) ✓ 3. GENIE (the Genie), MONKEY (Abu), PARROT (Iago), PRINCESS (Jasmine) ✓ 4. APOLLO 13, Sixteen CANDLES, Seven SAMURAI, FANTASTIC Four ✓ This all fits! Every word is accounted for, and each group has exactly 4 members. Now, which am I most confident in? 1. Stripes group - Very confident. All four are famously associated with striped clothing. 2. Aladdin group - Very confident. All four are character types in Aladdin. 3. Movie + number - Very confident. All four are well-known movies with numbers. 4. Video call problems - Confident. All four are common video call issues. I think I should start with the one I'm MOST confident about. I'd say the stripes group is very distinctive and unlikely to have overlap issues. Actually, all four groups seem solid. Let me double-check for any potential traps: Could SAILOR be in the Aladdin group? (Is there a prominent sailor in Aladdin?) → Sinbad is a different story. No sailor in Aladdin. Could REFEREE be in a different group? → MR. REFEREE? No. Video call problem? No. Movie with number? No. Could MIME be in a different group? → Video call? No. MR. MIME exists but if it's not the MR. category... Could PRISONER be in a different group? → PRISONER of Azkaban? But that's movie + number if we're counting book #3, which seems unlikely when the others are prominently numbered movies. Could ECHO be in the Aladdin group instead of video call? No, there's no echo character in Aladdin. Could FREEZE be in the Aladdin group? No. Could DROP be in the stripes group? No, drops don't wear stripes. I think the groups are solid. Let me start with the stripes group as it's very distinctive: SAILOR, MIME, PRISONER, REFEREE - all stereotypically wear striped clothing. Actually, wait - let me reconsider one more time. Is there any chance that MONKEY is in the "stripes" group instead of the Aladdin group? Monkeys don't typically wear stripes... No. Is there any chance that FANTASTIC could be in the stripes group? Nope. What about GENIE? Do genies wear stripes? No, they typically wear billowy pants and vests. I'm going to go with the stripes group first. Actually, let me reconsider once more whether the movie group works: • APOLLO 13 ✓ (1995 movie) • Sixteen CANDLES ✓ (1984 movie) • Seven SAMURAI ✓ (1954 movie) • FANTASTIC Four ✓ (2005/2015/2025 movie) Yes, these are all movies whose titles include a number (either as a word or numeral). And the actual category might be phrased as "___ [number]" or "[number] ___" or "movie titles with numbers" or similar. OK I'm going to go with my most confident guess. I'll start with the stripes group: SAILOR, MIME, PRISONER, REFEREE. Wait, one more thought. The category for the "stripes" group might be specifically "stereotypically wear black and white stripes" or "outfits with stripes" or simply "they wear stripes." The SAILOR might have blue and white stripes rather than black and white. But they're all striped! Let me also consider: could the NYT be thinking of something else that connects SAILOR, MIME, PRISONER, REFEREE? • They're all one-word costume ideas ✓ • They're all roles you might play ✓ • They're all commonly seen in charades ✓ • They all involve uniforms ✓ • They all wear stripes ✓ (most specific and clever) I think "wear stripes" or "associated with stripes" is the intended connection. It's the kind of clever "aha!" connection that NYT Connections loves. Let me go with: MIME, PRISONER, REFEREE, SAILOR This is my first guess.

I got the stripes group correct! Now I have 12 remaining words: LAG, FANTASTIC, DROP, ECHO, CANDLES, FREEZE, MONKEY, PRINCESS, PARROT, SAMURAI, GENIE, APOLLO My remaining proposed groups: 1. Aladdin characters: GENIE, MONKEY, PARROT, PRINCESS 2. Video call problems: LAG, FREEZE, DROP, ECHO 3. Movies with numbers: APOLLO (13), CANDLES (Sixteen), SAMURAI (Seven), FANTASTIC (Four) I'm very confident in all three. Let me pick the one I'm most confident about. Aladdin characters: GENIE (the Genie), MONKEY (Abu), PARROT (Iago), PRINCESS (Jasmine) - all are character types in Aladdin. Very strong. Video call problems: LAG (delay), FREEZE (screen freeze), DROP (dropped call), ECHO (audio echo) - all common issues. Very strong. Movies with numbers: APOLLO 13, Sixteen CANDLES, Seven SAMURAI, FANTASTIC Four - all well-known movies. Very strong. Let me go with Aladdin next since it's very clean and specific.

Now I have 8 remaining words: LAG, FANTASTIC, DROP, ECHO, CANDLES, FREEZE, SAMURAI, APOLLO My remaining proposed groups: 1. Video call problems: LAG, FREEZE, DROP, ECHO 2. Movies with numbers: APOLLO (13), CANDLES (Sixteen), SAMURAI (Seven), FANTASTIC (Four) Both seem very strong. Let me go with the movies with numbers group. • APOLLO 13 (1995 movie) • Sixteen CANDLES (1984 movie) • Seven SAMURAI (1954 movie) • FANTASTIC Four (2005/2015/2025 movie) All are well-known movie titles that include a number. Or I could go with the video call problems: LAG, FREEZE, DROP, ECHO. Either way, if one is right, the other should be too. Let me go with the movies group.

The remaining four words are: LAG, DROP, ECHO, FREEZE These are all video call/streaming problems. Let me finish this off.

Let me analyze these 16 words and find four groups of four. Available words: STIFF, CREATE, FOGHORN, WOODEN, WOODSTOCK, AWKWARD, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, WOODCHUCK, WOOD, CHUCK, STILTED, SCROOGE, WOODY, CLASSICS, COULD Let me think about potential categories: 1. Words meaning "stiff/unnatural": STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED - these all can describe awkward or unnatural behavior/movement. That's a strong group. 2. Words containing hidden words or related to something: • FOGHORN (Leghorn - character) • WOODSTOCK (Peanuts character, or music festival) • SCROOGE (Dickens character) • WOODY (Toy Story, or Woody Allen, or Woody Woodpecker) 3. Let me think about "WOOD" connections: • WOODSTOCK, WOODCHUCK, WOOD, WOODY - all start with "WOOD" • But CHUCK could combine with WOOD to make WOODCHUCK 4. Wait, let me think about "___ COULD ___" or phrases with COULD. 5. Let me think about Woody ___ or ___ Wood: • WOODY: Woody Allen, Woody Harrelson, Woody Guthrie • GUTHRIE: Woody Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie 6. "WOODY" connections: Woody Allen, Woody Guthrie, Woody Woodpecker, Woody Harrelson 7. Wait - WOODY + GUTHRIE, WOODY + WOODPECKER, WOODY + ALLEN... Let me reconsider. Maybe the categories are: Category: Synonyms for stiff/unnatural: STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED ✓ Category: "WOOD___" words: WOODSTOCK, WOODCHUCK, WOODY... but that's only 3 with WOOD prefix. Unless WOODEN counts but that's in the first group. Let me think about hidden words or compound words: • THEREFORE = THERE + FORE • CREATE = CRE + ATE • CLASSICS = CLASS + ICS • COULD = CO + ULD Hmm, what about words that contain other words? • sTIFF = has TIFF • sCROOGE = has... • FOGHORN = FOG + HORN • THEREFORE = THE + RE + FORE Wait, let me think about "Woody ___": • Woody GUTHRIE • Woody ALLEN → but ALLEN isn't here • Woody HARRELSON → not here Or "___ Wood": • CHUCK Wood? • Drift Wood? Let me think about Charles/Chuck connections: • CHUCK: Charles • SCROOGE: Ebenezer Scrooge (from Dickens, by Charles Dickens) Hmm, Peanuts characters: WOODSTOCK, SCHROEDER... CHUCK (Charlie Brown is sometimes called Chuck by Peppermint Patty), SNOOPY... Wait! Peanuts characters: • WOODSTOCK (the bird) • CHUCK (Peppermint Patty calls Charlie Brown "Chuck") • SCROOGE? No... • FOGHORN? No... Let me think about "___ wood" or "wood ___": • WOODSTOCK • WOODCHUCK • WOODY • Could WOOD itself be included? Actually, let me reconsider. What if words can follow or precede a common word? "COULD" - what words go with COULD? Wait - WOOD + CHUCK = WOODCHUCK, WOOD + STOCK = WOODSTOCK... What if these are all compound words with WOOD? WOOD + CHUCK = WOODCHUCK WOOD + STOCK = WOODSTOCK WOOD + CLASSICS? No... WOOD + CREATE? No... What about words that can follow "CLASSIC": CLASSIC WOOD? No. Hmm, let me think about "FORE" words: THEREFORE contains FORE, FOGHORN contains FOG... Let me try: words containing a type of weather/element? • FOGHORN (FOG) • THEREFORE (no) • STILTED (no) Let me reconsider. Category of "not natural/forced": STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED. I'm very confident about this one. Category: Famous Woodys - GUTHRIE (Woody Guthrie), WOODPECKER (Woody Woodpecker), ALLEN (Woody Allen), HARRELSON (Woody Harrelson). So GUTHRIE could be "Woody ___". What other words could be "Woody ___"? WOODSTOCK? No. Hmm, what about words that can follow CHUCK? • CHUCK WOOD? • CHUCK STEAK? Or words hidden inside other words? Let me look at compound possibilities: • FOGHORN: FOG + HORN • WOODCHUCK: WOOD + CHUCK • WOODSTOCK: WOOD + STOCK • THEREFORE: THERE + FORE • CREATE: Hidden word? • CLASSICS: CLASS + ICS • COULD: Hidden word? What if the category is "words that are two smaller words combined"? FOGHORN, WOODCHUCK, WOODSTOCK, THEREFORE... but there could be more. Wait - what if we need to find words where you can insert WOOD? • CHUCK → WOODCHUCK • STOCK → WOODSTOCK • Could something else work? Actually, I think I need to reconsider the puzzle structure. Let me look at this differently. What if WOODY, FOGHORN, SCROOGE, WOODSTOCK are all cartoon/fictional characters? • WOODY (Toy Story / Woody Woodpecker) • FOGHORN (Foghorn Leghorn) • SCROOGE (Scrooge McDuck) • WOODSTOCK (Peanuts) These are all cartoon characters! That's a strong category. Now remaining: STIFF, CREATE, WOODEN, AWKWARD, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, WOODCHUCK, WOOD, CHUCK, STILTED, CLASSICS, COULD Stiff/unnatural: STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED ✓ Remaining: CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, WOODCHUCK, WOOD, CHUCK, CLASSICS, COULD Hmm, 8 words left for 2 categories. GUTHRIE: Woody Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie, or a place WOODCHUCK: the animal WOOD: material CHUCK: name, throw, or cut of meat CREATE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS, COULD What connects CREATE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS, COULD? • They all contain hidden words? • CREATE → CRATE (anagram or hidden) • THEREFORE → THEREFOR + E, or THERE + FORE • CLASSICS → CLASSIC + S • COULD → COU + LD Wait, do they all contain a word for "wood" or "lumber"? • CREATE → no • THEREFORE → no • CLASSICS → ASH? CLASS? No... • COULD → no Hmm, what about hidden words that are types of wood? • CREATE → TEAK? No... wait, C-R-E-A-T-E. No TEAK. • CLASSICS → ASH is in clASSics! Wait, no: C-L-A-S-S-I-C-S. No ASH. • THEREFORE → no • COULD → no What about anagrams? • COULD → CLOUD • CREATE → ? • THEREFORE → ? Wait, COULD is an anagram of CLOUD. What about the others? • STIFF → FIST + F? No. • GUTHRIE → ? • WOODCHUCK → ? Let me think about "CHUCK" connections: • CHUCK Norris • CHUCK Berry • CHUCK Taylor • CHUCK Yeager • CHUCK Woolery? • CHUCK WOOD → woodchuck? And WOOD connections: • Elijah WOOD • Evan Rachel WOOD What if the category is "Famous ___" where the blank is one of the words? • Famous CHUCKs: Chuck Berry, Chuck Norris, Chuck Yeager • Famous WOODs: Elijah Wood, Evan Rachel Wood Hmm, let me think about what connects GUTHRIE, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK, WOOD, CREATE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS, COULD. What if we have: • Words that sound like / contain "would" (WOOD sounds like WOULD)? • COULD, WOULD (WOOD)... COULD, WOOD (would), ... hmm. Actually! What if the category is words that sound like or are homophones: • WOOD = WOULD • COULD = ... • CHUCK = ... • STIFF = ... Wait, what about modal verbs hidden/encoded? • WOOD → WOULD • COULD → COULD (itself) • ... SHALL, CAN, MAY, MIGHT, MUST, SHOULD What if words contain modal verbs? • COULD = COULD • WOOD = WOULD (homophone) • CLASSICS → hmm, SHALL? C-L-A-S-S-I-C-S... "SHALL" is hidden? cLASSics... no. • STILTED → no • CREATE → CAN? No. Hmm, let me reconsider. What about "CHUCK ___": • CHUCK WOOD? • CHUCK STIFF? No • CHUCK COULD? No Or "___ COULD": • WOOD COULD → woodchuck + "ould"? Hmm, the famous tongue twister: "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" OH! That's it! The sentence contains: WOOD, COULD, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK - and maybe more! "How much WOOD COULD a WOODCHUCK CHUCK if a WOODCHUCK COULD CHUCK WOOD" So one category might be: words from "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck": WOOD, COULD, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK But wait, that's only distinct words from the tongue twister. Let me check if there are others: HOW, MUCH, WOOD, COULD, A, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK, IF HOW isn't in our list... but wait, the puzzle title might be relevant. Actually, the words available include these four: WOOD, COULD, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK. But what about the other 4 remaining words: CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS? Actually wait - do these contain hidden words? Let me re-examine. If one category is "words from the woodchuck tongue twister": WOOD, COULD, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK Then remaining: CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS What connects these? Let me look for hidden words or patterns: • CREATE: contains CRATE, ATE, EAT, REAT • GUTHRIE: contains GUT, THRI, RIE, UTHRIE • THEREFORE: contains THERE, HERE, FORE, THE, HER, ORE, ERE • CLASSICS: contains CLASS, CLASSIC, ASS, SIC Hmm, what if they all contain a musical term? • CLASSICS → CLASS • No obvious pattern What about hidden body parts? • GUTHRIE → GUT • THEREFORE → THERE, FORE (forearm?) • CREATE → no • CLASSICS → no Hmm. What if they all contain a genre? • CLASSICS → CLASSIC • CREATE → no Let me reconsider ALL the categories: 1. Cartoon characters: WOODY, FOGHORN, SCROOGE, WOODSTOCK 2. Stiff/awkward: STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED 3. Woodchuck tongue twister words: WOOD, COULD, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK 4. ???: CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS What connects CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS? Let me look more carefully: • cREATe → contains REAT? Or GREAT? No... C-R-E-A-T-E. Hmm, "create" contains no obvious hidden word. • Actually wait: CREATE → CRATE with an extra E. Or RE + ATE. • GUTHRIE → contains... G-U-T-H-R-I-E • THEREFORE → T-H-E-R-E-F-O-R-E • CLASSICS → C-L-A-S-S-I-C-S What if they each contain a name? • CREATE → REA? • GUTHRIE → UTHRIE? • THEREFORE → THE? • CLASSICS → no Hmm, what if they each contain a word that means "great" or something? Wait - THEREFORE contains "ERGO" backwards? No. T-H-E-R-E-F-O-R-E. What about musical connections? • GUTHRIE: Woody Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie (folk musicians) • CLASSICS: classical music • CREATE: to create music? • THEREFORE: ? I feel less confident about group 4. Let me reconsider whether my groupings are correct. Actually, maybe the cartoon characters group is wrong. Let me reconsider. What if WOODY goes with GUTHRIE (Woody Guthrie), and the category is "Woody ___"? • Woody GUTHRIE • Woody ALLEN → no ALLEN • Woody WOODPECKER → WOODPECKER isn't here • Woody HARRELSON → not here Or what about "___ Allen"? • WOODY Allen • No others obvious. Hmm, let me reconsider. What if one category is "Woody ___": • WOODY is not in the category, but other words can follow WOODY. • GUTHRIE (Woody Guthrie) • WOODSTOCK? Hmm, not "Woody Woodstock" • WOODCHUCK? Not "Woody Woodchuck" What if the category involves "WOOD" as a prefix? • WOODCHUCK • WOODSTOCK • WOODEN • WOODY But WOODEN is probably in the "stiff" category. Let me try a different approach. What if the hidden connection in group 4 is that they all contain the name of a musical note or something? CREATE → RE (musical note) THEREFORE → RE (musical note) GUTHRIE → no obvious note CLASSICS → LA? C-L-A-S-S-I-C-S → yes, LA is in there! Hmm, not consistent. What if they all contain a color? • CREATE → no • GUTHRIE → no • THEREFORE → no • CLASSICS → no What about animals hidden in them? • FOGHORN → no (but FOGHORN is in group 1) • GUTHRIE → no • CREATE → HARE? No. C-R-E-A-T-E. No animal. • THEREFORE → HARE? T-H-E-R-E-F-O-R-E. No. • CLASSICS → ASS? C-L-ASS-I-C-S. ASS is technically a donkey! Hmm, that doesn't work consistently. Let me try yet another approach. What if words that are "Scrooge McDuck" related? No, that seems too narrow. What if the connection is about famous tongue twisters or phrases? Actually, let me reconsider the whole puzzle. Let me look at THEREFORE more carefully. THERE + FORE. And STIFF → STIFF And STILTED → STILT + ED What if some words contain hidden smaller words that are a category? • FOGHORN → FOG, HORN • THEREFORE → THERE, FORE, THE, HERE, HER, ERE, ORE • STILTED → STILT, TED, TIL, ILT • WOODSTOCK → WOODS, STOCK, WOOD • SCROOGE → no common word hidden? • AWKWARD → AWK, WARD, AWE? no... • CLASSICS → CLASS, LASS, ASS, SIC • GUTHRIE → GUT, THRI? no • WOODCHUCK → WOOD, CHUCK • CREATE → CRATE, ATE, EAT, CREATE Hmm. What words contain another word from the list? • WOODCHUCK contains WOOD and CHUCK (both in the list!) • WOODSTOCK contains WOOD • FOGHORN → neither FOG nor HORN is in the list • THEREFORE → none of its subwords are in the list • STILTED → STILT not in list • CLASSICS → CLASS not in list • CREATE → CRATE not in list (ATE not in list) • SCROOGE → none • GUTHRIE → none Interesting. WOODCHUCK literally contains WOOD + CHUCK. OK so let me reconsider. What if one category is: Words that are compound words made of two other common words: • WOODCHUCK: WOOD + CHUCK • WOODSTOCK: WOOD + STOCK • FOGHORN: FOG + HORN • THEREFORE: THERE + FORE Or maybe the category is less about compound words and more about something else. Let me try thinking about what connects CREATE, GUTHRIE, CLASSICS, and one more word. Actually, let me try this: What if one category is "Arlo ___" or "___ Arlo"? • Arlo GUTHRIE (folk singer) • Arlo isn't matching others... What about "___ Classic" or "Classic ___"? • No clear pattern. Hmm, let me reconsider whether THEREFORE belongs in a different group. What if there's a word that can precede or follow all four words in a category? For example, "WOOD" + ?: WOOD + STOCK, WOOD + CHUCK, WOOD + PECKER... But WOODSTOCK and WOODCHUCK are already single words in the list. What if the pattern is "WOOD + [word from list]"? • WOOD + STOCK → WOODSTOCK ✓ (but STOCK isn't in the list) • WOOD + CHUCK → WOODCHUCK ✓ (CHUCK is in the list) • WOOD + COULD → no • WOOD + CREATE → no Hmm, that doesn't work. Let me try: What famous people share a first name? • WOODY Allen, WOODY Guthrie, WOODY Harrelson, WOODY Woodpecker • So words that can follow WOODY: GUTHRIE, ALLEN, HARRELSON, WOODPECKER • But only GUTHRIE is in the list... • CHUCK Berry, CHUCK Norris, CHUCK Yeager, CHUCK Jones • Words that can follow CHUCK: BERRY, NORRIS, YEAGER • None of these are in the list... What about words associated with Scrooge? • SCROOGE McDuck (Disney) • Ebenezer SCROOGE (Dickens) • STIFF could relate to Scrooge's personality? OK, I'm going in circles. Let me go with my most confident group first. Most confident: Synonyms for stiff/unnatural acting or behavior: STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED These all mean rigid, unnatural, or lacking fluidity. Very confident. Let me start with this guess. Actually wait, one more thought. Let me check if WOODY could replace WOODEN in the "stiff" category. No, WOODY doesn't mean stiff. WOODEN definitely means stiff/awkward (as in "a wooden performance"). And let me verify: could any of STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED belong to another group? • STIFF: could mean a dead body, or to not tip someone • WOODEN: could relate to WOOD • AWKWARD: seems pretty solidly "stiff/unnatural" • STILTED: could relate to STILTS, but "stilted" primarily means stiff/formal I'll go with STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED. Wait, I want to reconsider one more time. What if the categories involve hidden words? STIFF → has TIFF inside STILTED → has STILT, TIL, ILT FOGHORN → has FOG, HORN SCROOGE → has... hmm What if words contain a hidden "tree" type? • CLASSICS → has... no • CREATE → has... no • THEREFORE → has FIR? T-H-E-R-E-F-O-R-E → no FIR • Actually THEREFORE has "EF-OR" → FOR → FOREST? No. What about hidden words that are types of wood/trees? • CLASSICS → ASH? C-L-A-S-S-I-C-S → no, ASH doesn't appear: C-L-A-S-S... • Wait: clASSics → hmm, A-S-S not A-S-H • sTIFFany → no • sTILTED → no • FOGHORN → no • GUTHRIE → no • THEREFORE → no • SCROOGE → SPRUCE? No. • CREATE → CEDAR? No. C-R-E-A-T-E → no OK that doesn't work. What about words that contain musical instruments? • FOGHORN → HORN ✓ • GUTHRIE → no • CREATE → no • THEREFORE → no • CLASSICS → no • COULD → no What if words can have "E" removed to make another word? • CREATE → CRATE ✓ • STIFF → no (STIF?) • THEREFORE → THEREFOR ✓ (that's a word) • SCROOGE → SCROOG? No • CLASSICS → no • COULD → no • STILTED → no • WOODSTOCK → no Hmm, CREATE → CRATE is interesting. What other words form new words when you remove a letter? • STIFF → remove a letter → STIF (no), TIFF (remove S), SIFF (no) • STILTED → TILTED (remove S) ✓ • AWKWARD → WKWARD? No. • FOGHORN → remove a letter → OGHORN? No. • SCROOGE → remove a letter → CROOGE? No. • COULD → COLD (remove U)? C-O-U-L-D → COLD? No, that removes U but it's C-O-L-D. Actually removing the U from COULD gives COLD! ✓ • WOODEN → remove a letter → WOOEN? WODEN? Actually WODEN (remove O) is Odin's name in Old English. Hmm. • GUTHRIE → remove a letter → UTHRIE? No. • THEREFORE → THEREFOR (remove E) ✓ • CLASSICS → CLASSIC (remove S) - but that's just removing a plural S, less interesting. • WOODCHUCK → remove a letter → WODCHUCK? No. • WOODSTOCK → remove a letter → WODSTOCK? No. Interesting finds: • CREATE → CRATE (remove E) • STILTED → TILTED (remove S) • COULD → COLD (remove U) • THEREFORE → hmm, removing middle letters Actually wait. What if we remove the same letter from each? CREATE → CRATE (remove second E? No... C-R-E-A-T-E, remove the first E → CRATE) Hmm, CREATE = C-R-E-A-T-E. Remove first E: C-R-A-T-E = CRATE ✓ WOODEN → remove E → WOODN? No. Remove second O → WODEN? What if we remove a specific letter? • CREATE remove E → CRATE • COULD remove O → CULD? No. • GUTHRIE remove first letter → UTHRIE? No. Hmm, this is getting complicated. Let me just go with my confident guess. Actually, one more thought: what if these words contain card game terms? • STIFF → no • CLASSICS → no • GUTHRIE → no Or what if some are connected by "Woody" (as in Woody from Toy Story, Woody Allen, Woody Guthrie, Woody Woodpecker)? Words that can follow WOODY to make a famous name: • GUTHRIE → Woody Guthrie ✓ • WOODSTOCK → Woody Woodstock? No. • ALLEN → Woody Allen (not in list) • HARRELSON → Woody Harrelson (not in list) Hmm, what about names that can be preceded by another word in the list? FOGHORN Leghorn (cartoon character) WOODSTOCK (Peanuts character) SCROOGE McDuck (cartoon character) WOODY Woodpecker (cartoon character) These are all cartoon characters! But wait, GUTHRIE... Let me reconsider. Are FOGHORN, WOODSTOCK, SCROOGE, and CHUCK all names that can be preceded by a common word? No... Are they all Peanuts characters? WOODSTOCK is, and Peppermint Patty calls Charlie Brown "CHUCK". But FOGHORN and SCROOGE aren't Peanuts characters. Hmm, what if they're all characters from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" or something? SCROOGE isn't a Peanuts character though. Let me think about what connects FOGHORN, WOODSTOCK, SCROOGE: • All cartoon characters • FOGHORN Leghorn (Looney Tunes) • WOODSTOCK (Peanuts) • SCROOGE McDuck (Disney) • Who's the fourth? WOODY (Woody Woodpecker, or Toy Story) These are all cartoon characters. And if we remove these four, can the rest form coherent groups? Remaining after removing WOODY, FOGHORN, SCROOGE, WOODSTOCK: STIFF, CREATE, WOODEN, AWKWARD, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, WOODCHUCK, WOOD, CHUCK, STILTED, CLASSICS, COULD Then: STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED = stiff/unnatural Remaining: CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, WOODCHUCK, WOOD, CHUCK, CLASSICS, COULD Then: WOOD, COULD, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK = woodchuck tongue twister Remaining: CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS What connects these four? CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS Hmm... Let me think harder. • CREATE → anagram of something? • GUTHRIE → Arlo Guthrie? Woody Guthrie? The Guthrie Theater? • THEREFORE → "I think, therefore I am" (Descartes) • CLASSICS → classic literature? What if they all have something to do with music? • GUTHRIE: musician • CLASSICS: classical music • CREATE: to create music • THEREFORE: ? What if each contains a hidden word? • CREATE: ATE, CRATE, EAT, RE • GUTHRIE: GUT, RIE • THEREFORE: THE, THERE, HERE, HER, HERO? T-H-E-R-E-F-O-R-E → HERO? No, H-E-R-O would need those letters in sequence: tHEROefore? No. But wait: t-h-e-r-e-f-o-r-e... no HERO. • CLASSICS: CLASS, LASS, ASS, SIC Hidden words that are all the same type? • GUT, THE, CLASS, CRATE? No common category. • ATE, RIE, HERE, SIC? No. What if each word, when you rearrange or modify it, gives you something? CREATE → ECARTE (a card game!) - anagram of CREATE GUTHRIE → ? THEREFORE → ? CLASSICS → ? Hmm, ECARTE is interesting. What about the others? GUTHRIE → anagram → RIGHTUE? UTHGIRE? No obvious word. OK what if they all contain a type of dance, sport, or game? • CREATE → CRATE? No. • GUTHRIE → no • THEREFORE → FORE (as in golf!) ✓ • CLASSICS → no What if they can all have a word added to make a famous thing? • CREATE + ? → • GUTHRIE + Theater → Guthrie Theater • THEREFORE + ? → • CLASSICS + ? → Hmm, what about Arlo? • GUTHRIE → Arlo Guthrie • Is Arlo hidden in other words? • ??? What if the answer is much simpler? What if they're all related to school or education? • CLASSICS: a subject • CREATE: arts • THEREFORE: used in logic/proofs • GUTHRIE: ? OR, what if they each contain a type of cheese? • THEREFORE → nope • GUTHRIE → BRIE? G-U-T-H-R-I-E → has R-I-E but not B-R-I-E • CREATE → no • CLASSICS → no What about car brands? • CREATE → FIAT? No. • GUTHRIE → no • THEREFORE → FORD? No... T-H-E-R-E-F-O-R-E... wait: theREFORe → REFOR? No. Hmm. Let me try another approach. What if these contain names of famous people? • CREATE → no famous name • GUTHRIE → GUTHRIE itself is a surname • THEREFORE → no famous name • CLASSICS → no famous name What if they all can follow or precede "rock"? • ROCK CLASSICS → no • CLASSIC ROCK → CLASSICS = CLASSIC + S, and CLASSIC ROCK is a thing! What if they're all types/genres of something? • CLASSICS → a genre • CREATE → no • GUTHRIE → no • THEREFORE → no I'm stuck on group 4. Let me just go with my most confident guess and see what happens. Actually, wait. Let me reconsider whether the tongue twister group is right. "How much WOOD COULD a WOODCHUCK CHUCK..." The key words are: HOW, MUCH, WOOD, COULD, A, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK, IF From our list: WOOD, COULD, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK are all there. And MUCH is not, HOW is not, IF is not, A is not. But what about the other remaining words? Could one of CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS be a tongue twister word instead? No, none of them appear in "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood." Hmm, but what if the category isn't about the specific tongue twister, but about something else connecting WOOD, COULD, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK? Let me think: what else connects these four? • They all contain "oo"? WOOD (oo), COULD (ou), WOODCHUCK (oo), CHUCK (u) → no, inconsistent • CHUCK and WOOD are both names? CHUCK yes, WOOD could be (surname) • They can all follow a common word? Like... no obvious one Actually, I think the tongue twister connection is the most likely. The puzzle would be "words found in 'how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.'" OK let me think about group 4 one more time. CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS What if each contains a Greek/Latin root? • CREATE: from Latin "creare" • THEREFORE: THERE + FORE (Old English) • GUTHRIE: Scottish surname • CLASSICS: from Latin "classicus" Hmm, not a clean category. What if they can all be preceded by the same word? • ___ CREATE: no common word • ___ GUTHRIE: WOODY Guthrie, ARLO Guthrie • ___ THEREFORE: no • ___ CLASSICS: ROCK classics? INSTANT classics? Or followed by the same word? • CREATE ___: CREATE SPACE? • GUTHRIE ___: ? • THEREFORE ___: ? • CLASSICS ___: ? What if they all contain a hidden number? • CREATE → EIGHT? No. CREA-TE → no. • GUTHRIE → THREE? G-U-T-H-R-I-E → no, but wait... guTHREE? No, it's guthrie: G-U-T-H-R-I-E. Let me check: T-H-R-I → not THREE. • THEREFORE → THERE → THE → three? Contains THREE? T-H-E-R-E-F-O-R-E → "THREEFOR"? Hmm: THE-RE-FORE → if I look for THREE: T-H-R-E-E would need two E's in sequence after TH... T-H-E-R-E → THE then RE, not THREE. • CLASSICS → no number What if they contain hidden "dance" or "music" terms? • CREATE → REAT? No. • GUTHRIE → no • THEREFORE → REEL? No. THEREFOR-E → FORE? • CLASSICS → no I'm struggling with this last group. Let me consider if my groupings might be wrong. What if WOODEN belongs with WOOD, WOODCHUCK, WOODSTOCK (all contain WOOD)? Then the "stiff" category would need a replacement. Could WOODY mean stiff? No. What if STIFF, AWKWARD, STILTED + one more = stiff category? And WOODEN goes elsewhere? STIFF, AWKWARD, STILTED + COULD? WOODEN? THEREFORE? • COULD → doesn't mean stiff • THEREFORE → doesn't mean stiff • WOODEN → means stiff I think WOODEN has to be in the stiff group. Let me reconsider the cartoon character group: FOGHORN (Leghorn), WOODSTOCK, SCROOGE (McDuck), WOODY (Woodpecker or Toy Story) → all cartoon characters But what if instead of WOODY, the fourth cartoon character is someone else? • CHUCK could be a cartoon character? Not commonly. • GUTHRIE? No. • STIFF? No. I think WOODY fits best as a cartoon character. OK, you know what, let me try a completely different take on group 4. What if each word in group 4 starts with a musical note? • CREATE → C (do/C) ✓ C is a note • GUTHRIE → G ✓ G is a note • THEREFORE → no, T is not a note • CLASSICS → C ✓ Hmm, T is not a standard note (A B C D E F G). What if group 4 words all contain "classic" in some way? No, only CLASSICS does. What if they're all related to "would"? • WOOD sounds like WOULD • COULD rhymes with WOULD • Hmm but those are in the tongue twister group. Let me try: what if the tongue twister group is wrong, and instead: • COULD, WOODEN, WOOD, WOODY → all sound like or contain WOULD/WOOD? No, that mixes with the stiff group. Actually, I just want to reconsider whether WOODY belongs in the cartoon group or somewhere else. WOODY: Woody Allen, Woody Guthrie, Woody Harrelson, Woody Woodpecker, Woody (Toy Story), Woody (Cheers) If WOODY goes with GUTHRIE (as in Woody Guthrie), then what other words go with first names? • FOGHORN + LEGHORN (but LEGHORN isn't available, and that's a character name, not first+last) • CHUCK + CLASSICS? No. What if the category is "Famous people's last names where the first name is also in the list"? • WOODY GUTHRIE → WOODY and GUTHRIE are both in the list! • But I need 4 pairs... and that would be 8 words for one category. That can't be right. OR, what if the category is "can follow WOODY to make a famous person's name"? • WOODY GUTHRIE → GUTHRIE ✓ • WOODY ALLEN → ALLEN not in list • WOODY HARRELSON → not in list That's only 1, so that's not it. Let me try: what if some words can each follow a different word that's also in the list? • WOODY + GUTHRIE = Woody Guthrie → WOODY modifies GUTHRIE? But that uses 2 words... I think I need to just make my first guess and learn from the result. Let me go with: STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED (all mean rigid/unnatural/not flowing) This is my highest confidence group. Actually, wait. One more idea for group 4. What if they're all related to Woody Allen movies or albums? Or what if group 4 contains words that each have a silent letter or unusual spelling? Or... what if each word contains a smaller word that's a synonym for "wood" or a type of tree? CREATE → contains "ATE"? No tree. GUTHRIE → contains "THRI"? No. THEREFORE → contains "ERE"? No. CLASSICS → contains "LASS"? "ASS"? No tree. Nope. What about words that contain the name of a famous person? • THEREFORE → THE? No famous person just "THE" • GUTHRIE → is itself a famous person's name • CREATE → no • CLASSICS → no Hmm. What if they all end in a particular way? • CREATE → ends in -ATE • GUTHRIE → ends in -IE • THEREFORE → ends in -ORE • CLASSICS → ends in -ICS No pattern. What if they all START the same way phonetically? • CREATE → /kr/ • GUTHRIE → /g/ • THEREFORE → /ð/ • CLASSICS → /kl/ Nope. OK here's another wild idea: What if they all contain abbreviations? • CREATE → CR (chromium)? • GUTHRIE → GU? • THEREFORE → no • CLASSICS → no Nope. What if each can have letters rearranged to spell a type of food/drink? • CREATE → ECARTE? No food. • GUTHRIE → ? • THEREFORE → ? • CLASSICS → ? Let me try anagramming: • CREATE → ECARTE, CERATE (a waxy ointment) • GUTHRIE → GUTHRIE → RIGHTUE? No good anagram. • THEREFORE → THEREFOR + E → hmm, too many letters • CLASSICS → SCICAL? No. OK I genuinely cannot figure out group 4 from analysis alone. Let me just start guessing and use the process of elimination. I'll start with STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED. Hmm, actually wait. One more attempt at group 4: What if they all have exactly 7, 8, or some specific number of letters? • CREATE: 6 • GUTHRIE: 7 • THEREFORE: 9 • CLASSICS: 8 No consistent number. What if each word can become another word by changing one letter? • CREATE → CREOLE? No (different number of letters) • GUTHRIE → GUTHRIE → ? • THEREFORE → THEREFORE → ? • CLASSICS → CLASSIST? Different number. What if they can all follow or precede WOOD? • WOOD + CREATE → WOODCREATE? No. • WOOD + GUTHRIE → No. What if they all relate to school subjects? • CLASSICS → yes (study of Greek/Latin) • CREATE → relates to ART • THEREFORE → relates to LOGIC/MATH (QED, therefore) • GUTHRIE → relates to MUSIC? (Woody Guthrie was a musician, Arlo Guthrie) Hmm, that's a stretch but interesting. They could all relate to academic disciplines? Or: what if each contains a school subject hidden inside? • CREATE → ART! c-R-E-A-T-e contains "REAT" → hmm. Actually CREATE = CRE-ATE, and ART is hidden: c-r-e-A-R-T... wait, no: C-R-E-A-T-E. The letters A-R-T are not consecutive. Wait: C-R-E-A-T-E → positions: C(1) R(2) E(3) A(4) T(5) E(6). So R-E-A would be positions 2-4, and A-T-E would be positions 4-6. No ART (A-R-T) hidden. Hmm wait, what about: • GUTHRIE → contains... G-U-T-H-R-I-E → no subject hidden • THEREFORE → THE, HERE, ORE... → no subject • CLASSICS → CLASS! → "CLASS" is hidden in CLASSICS! What if each word contains a word related to school? • CLASSICS → CLASS • CREATE → CRATE? No. But... hmm. • THEREFORE → no • GUTHRIE → no Just CLASS from CLASSICS. Not enough. OK, I truly need to just start guessing. My confidence ranking: 1. STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED (stiff/unnatural) - very high confidence 2. FOGHORN, WOODSTOCK, SCROOGE, WOODY (cartoon characters) - high confidence 3. WOOD, COULD, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK (woodchuck tongue twister) - moderate confidence 4. CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS (???) - low confidence Let me go with #1 first. Oh wait, I just had a flash of insight! COULD → remove C → OULD WOULD → WOOD sounds like WOULD SHOULD → ??? What if the category is words that sound like modal verbs when you add/remove something? Actually, here's an idea: What if each word in the "mystery group" can have a letter added to make a new word? CREATE + D = CREATED (boring) GUTHRIE + S = GUTHRIES (boring) Hmm no. What if each word is hiding the name of a Woody Allen movie? Actually, OK. Here's what I notice: What if GROUP 4's connection is: they all contain a SILENT letter or something phonetic? Or what if they are all things that can be "rock ___" or "___ rock"? • ROCK CLASSICS? → Not really a thing... wait, CLASSIC ROCK → CLASSICS? Hmm. Or what if each is an anagram of something related? CREATE = anagram of ECARTE (card game) GUTHRIE = anagram of... let me check: G-U-T-H-R-I-E → 7 letters. LIGHTER? No, different letters. RIGHT + UE? GUTHRIE → rearranged → hmm. Let me try: GUTHRIE → G,U,T,H,R,I,E → RIGHTER? No, that has two R's. FIGHTER? No, has F. TOUGHER? No. Wait: GUTHRIE → HUGER? No. Actually: what if these are all ___ + ER words? • CREATE + R → CREATOR? No, CREATER isn't a word. • GUTHRIE + R? No. Hmm. OK one last idea: what if they're all associated with a specific phrase? "I think, THEREFORE I am" - Descartes Hmm, none of the others fit this. What if they're all words you might find in a graduation speech? • THEREFORE: "Therefore, as you embark..." • CLASSICS: "Studying the classics..." • CREATE: "Go out and create..." • GUTHRIE: "As Woody Guthrie once said..." Hmm, that's a stretch. What if they can all be preceded by "GREAT"? • GREAT CLASSICS? No, not really a compound phrase. • GREAT GUTHRIE? No. • GREAT THEREFORE? No. • GREAT CREATE? No. OK FINAL IDEA: What if all four words contain a word meaning "to make" or "to produce"? • CREATE → CREATE itself • THEREFORE → FORGE? No... FORE? No. • GUTHRIE → no • CLASSICS → no What if they all contain an abbreviation for a US state? • CREATE → CRE-ATE → ATE? No state. CR? No. RE? No. • Actually: creATE → ATE? No. But wait: • GUTHRIE → GUTHRIE → RI (Rhode Island)? G-U-T-H-R-I-E → yes, RI is in there! • THEREFORE → THEREFORE → OR? Wait: THEREF-OR-E → OR is in there! OR = Oregon • CLASSICS → CLASSICS → no obvious state...AL? AS? IC? CL? LA? → LA (Louisiana)! C-L-A-S-S-I-C-S → LA is there! • CREATE → CREATE → no... wait: C-R-E-A-T-E → RE? Not a state... hmm. Hmm: GUTHRIE has RI, THEREFORE has OR, CLASSICS has LA... but CREATE doesn't clearly have a state. Actually: what about CT? C-T... no, CT = Connecticut and the letters C and T aren't adjacent in CREATE (C-R-E-A-T-E). Actually wait, is there an "AT" somewhere? "ATE" contains... hmm. What if they hide country codes? No, that's too obscure. You know what, let me try: GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS and then look at what's left to determine the 4th. If groups are: 1. STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED 2. FOGHORN, WOODSTOCK, SCROOGE, WOODY 3. WOOD, COULD, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK 4. CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS Then group 4 must have SOME connection. Let me look with completely fresh eyes: CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS What do all four have in common? Length: 6, 7, 9, 8 → no pattern Starting letter: C, G, T, C → no pattern Ending letter: E, E, E, S → three end in E! Hmm, what if they all contain "RE"? • cREate ✓ • guthRIe → has RI not RE • theREfore ✓ • classics → has no RE No. What about the sound "ERE"? • CREATE → no • GUTHRIE → no • THEREFORE → thEREfore ✓ • CLASSICS → no No. Actually, I just want to try: what if they all relate to "Woody"? • Woody GUTHRIE → yes • Woody (actor who starred in) CREATE? No. • THEREFORE → no woody connection • CLASSICS → no Only GUTHRIE works. What if they can all follow the same adjective? • OLD CLASSICS? Sort of. GOLDEN CLASSICS? • I can't find a word that precedes all four naturally. Wait, what if they can all be preceded by the word "CREATE"? No, that doesn't make sense. What if each one of them, when a specific transformation is applied, yields a name from the puzzle? Like: THEREFORE → remove THERE → FORE → FOGHORN? No. CREATE → remove C → REATE? No. GUTHRIE → remove G → UTHRIE? No. CLASSICS → remove C → LASSICS? No. What if each of these words contains another word from the puzzle? • CREATE → no (doesn't contain WOOD, COULD, CHUCK, etc.) • GUTHRIE → no • THEREFORE → contains... THE? No. THERE? FORE? Neither is in the puzzle. • CLASSICS → no Hmm. What if each is associated with a different member of a band? GUTHRIE → Folk music CLASSICS → Classic rock CREATE → ? THEREFORE → ? OK I've been going around in circles. Let me just say: maybe these 4 words all have a hidden MUSIC term? CREATE → has "REAT" → hmm GUTHRIE → has "THRI" → hmm THEREFORE → has "HEREFORE" → hmm CLASSICS → hmm What about DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA, TI? • CREATE → has "RE": c-RE-ate ✓ and also has "ATE" which doesn't help • GUTHRIE → has "TI"? No... G-U-T-H-R-I-E → no TI. But has "UT" → UT is DO in some solfege systems! • THEREFORE → has "RE": the-RE-fore ✓ but also has "THE" and "FORE" • CLASSICS → has "LA": c-LA-ssics ✓ and has "SI": clas-SI-cs! (SI is TI in some solfège) Hmm actually: • gUThrie → UT (which is DO in medieval solfège) • cREate → RE ✓ • thEREfore → RE ✓ (but same as CREATE) Hmm, if we're looking for solfège notes: DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA, SI (or TI) • CREATE → RE (c-RE-ate) • GUTHRIE → hmm • THEREFORE → RE again (the-RE-fore) • CLASSICS → LA (c-LA-ssics) Two have RE, which seems wrong for a hidden-word puzzle (each should have a different one). Wait, let me look more carefully: • CREATE: C-R-E-A-T-E → RE at positions 2-3 ✓, also "EAT" hmm • GUTHRIE: G-U-T-H-R-I-E → no standard solfège note... unless we count "RI"? No. • THEREFORE: T-H-E-R-E-F-O-R-E → RE at positions 4-5 and 8-9, "FORE" at positions 6-9, "DO" not present • CLASSICS: C-L-A-S-S-I-C-S → LA at positions 2-3 ✓, "SI" at positions 5-6? Hmm, S-I... but SI is indeed a solfège note in some traditions. So: RE (CREATE), ? (GUTHRIE), RE (THEREFORE), LA and SI (CLASSICS) This doesn't work cleanly. OK let me try: what if they all contain DO, RE, MI, FA? • CREATE → RE ✓ • THEREFORE → RE ✓ • GUTHRIE → no (G-U-T-H-R-I-E) • CLASSICS → no (C-L-A-S-S-I-C-S) ... wait, does it have DO? No. MI? No. FA? No. This doesn't work. Actually, wait. Let me look for DO specifically: • DO appears in: none of our four words (CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS) • FOGHORN → no DO • WOODSTOCK → wOODstock? OODS? Let me see: W-O-O-D-S-T-O-C-K → no DO • SCROOGE → no DO • WOODCHUCK → WOODCHUCK → no DO • WOODEN → woo-DEN → no DO • COULD → COULD → no DO Hmm, none of the 16 words contain "DO" as a substring. Let me abandon this line of thinking. New idea: What if all four words can become compound words or phrases with a common fifth word? ___ WOOD? • CREATE WOOD? No. • GUTHRIE WOOD? No. • THEREFORE WOOD? No. • CLASSICS WOOD? No. WOOD ___? Nope. What about "Classic ___"? • Classic CREATE? No. What if they relate to the number 4 (four, for, fore)? • THEREFORE → contains FORE ✓ • CREATE → contains... no FOUR or FORE • GUTHRIE → no • CLASSICS → no What if they're connected by having an "E" that's silent? • CREATE → the final E is arguably silent (or at least changes pronunciation) • THEREFORE → the final E might be considered part of the pronunciation • GUTHRIE → the final E is somewhat silent (GUTH-ree) • CLASSICS → ends in S, not E Hmm, 3 out of 4 end in E. Not CLASSICS. What if I'm wrong about one of my groups and CLASSICS belongs elsewhere? What if the stiff group is: STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED, and CLASSICS replaces one of them? "A classics performance" → no, that doesn't mean stiff. What if the cartoon group includes CHUCK (as in Chuck Jones, the animator)? Then: Group 2: FOGHORN, WOODSTOCK, SCROOGE, CHUCK (all associated with Chuck Jones?) Actually: FOGHORN Leghorn was a Chuck Jones/Looney Tunes character. SCROOGE... Scrooge McDuck is Disney, not Chuck Jones. So no. What if the cartoon group is: FOGHORN, WOODSTOCK, SCROOGE, GUTHRIE? • GUTHRIE is not a cartoon character... OK final attempt at a different grouping. What if: Group 3 is: CHUCK, COULD, WOOD, WOODY (all words in the tongue twister, since WOODY isn't a stretch - though it's "wood" not "woody" in the tongue twister) Actually no, the tongue twister says "wood" not "woody." What if group 2 (cartoon characters) = FOGHORN, WOODSTOCK, SCROOGE, WOODCHUCK? • WOODCHUCK as a cartoon character? Is there a famous cartoon woodchuck? There's "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck" which is a tongue twister, not a cartoon. But there IS the GEICO woodchuck commercial... Hmm, actually: Woody Woodchuck? Woody Woodpecker? Let me think... What about: FOGHORN, WOODSTOCK, SCROOGE, and CHUCK as TV/cartoon character names? • FOGHORN Leghorn (Looney Tunes) • WOODSTOCK (Peanuts) • SCROOGE McDuck (DuckTales/Disney) • CHUCK (could be from "Chuck" TV show, or various cartoons) Actually: CHUCK could be Charles "Chuck" Jones. But he's an animator, not a character. In Peanuts, Peppermint Patty calls Charlie Brown "CHUCK"! So CHUCK and WOODSTOCK are both Peanuts-related. But the category is probably not "Peanuts characters." OK what if the cartoon characters are: FOGHORN, WOODSTOCK, SCROOGE, WOODY And group 3 is: WOODCHUCK, CHUCK, COULD, WOOD (tongue twister) And group 4 is: CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS I'll go with this. My first guess: STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED. Actually, now I want to verify: Could STILTED be in another group? STILTED → on stilts? STILT + ED? Is there a STILT connection elsewhere? No, I think STILTED firmly means "stiff and artificially formal." And AWKWARD → firmly means clumsy/uncomfortable. Could belong to another group? I don't think so. STIFF → firmly means rigid. Could mean "a dead body" or "to not tip" but in the context of synonyms with WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED, it means rigid/unnatural. WOODEN → firmly means stiff/expressionless ("a wooden performance"). Could relate to WOOD but I think in this puzzle it's in the "stiff" group. I'm going with: STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED.

I got the first group correct. Now let me work with the remaining 12 words: CREATE, FOGHORN, WOODSTOCK, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, WOODCHUCK, WOOD, CHUCK, SCROOGE, WOODY, CLASSICS, COULD Let me reconsider my potential categories: 1. Cartoon characters: FOGHORN (Leghorn), WOODSTOCK (Peanuts), SCROOGE (McDuck), WOODY (Woodpecker/Toy Story) 2. Woodchuck tongue twister words: WOOD, COULD, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK ("How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood") 3. Mystery group: CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS Let me think more about group 3 now that I've confirmed group 1. CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS Hmm, let me think about this differently. What if each of these words contains a hidden word? CREATE: C-R-E-A-T-E GUTHRIE: G-U-T-H-R-I-E THEREFORE: T-H-E-R-E-F-O-R-E CLASSICS: C-L-A-S-S-I-C-S What words are hidden? • CREATE → CRATE (remove one letter), or hidden: "EAT" (cr-EAT-e) • GUTHRIE → "GUT" (GUT-hrie), or "THRI" • THEREFORE → "THERE" (THERE-fore), "HERE" (t-HERE-fore), "FORE" (there-FORE), "ORE" • CLASSICS → "CLASS" (CLASS-ics), "LASS" (c-LASS-ics), "SIC" (clas-SIC-s) Hmm, what if each contains a hidden word and those hidden words form a category? EAT, GUT, HERE/THERE/FORE, CLASS/LASS These don't form a clear category. Wait - what if they all contain a word that means "to throw" or relates to "chuck"? • CHUCK means to throw • CREATE → "HURL"? No. • Hmm, no. What if each word hides one of the solfège notes: DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA, TI/SI? • CREATE → c-RE-ate → RE ✓ • GUTHRIE → gu-TH-rie → hmm, no standard note... wait: GU-THRI-E... no. • THEREFORE → the-RE-fore → RE again... hmm, or there-FA? No: THERE-F-O-R-E. No FA. • CLASSICS → c-LA-ssics → LA ✓ But CREATE and THEREFORE both have RE, and GUTHRIE doesn't have a clear note. What about music keys or notes (A, B, C, D, E, F, G)? Not really hidden "in" the words in a meaningful way. Let me reconsider. What if these words each contain a hidden MUSICAL INSTRUMENT? • CREATE → no instrument • GUTHRIE → no instrument • THEREFORE → no instrument • CLASSICS → no instrument What if they contain hidden DANCES? • CREATE → REAT? No. • GUTHRIE → no • THEREFORE → REEL? No: T-H-E-R-E-F-O-R-E → no REEL • CLASSICS → no What if they contain hidden COLORS? • CREATE → RED? C-R-E... no, RED would need R-E-D • GUTHRIE → no • THEREFORE → no • CLASSICS → no Hmm. What about animals? • CREATE → no (CAT? C...A-T-E → no, letters aren't adjacent: C(1)-R(2)-E(3)-A(4)-T(5)-E(6), so C-A-T would be positions 1,4,5 - not consecutive) • Actually wait: CREATE → CR-EAT-E → EAT? Or do I see RAM? APE? ASS? • GUTHRIE → GNU? G...N-U? No N. ASS? No. • THEREFORE → HARE? T-H-E-R-E-F-O-R-E → H-A-R-E? No A. HERON? H-E-R-O-N? No N after O. • CLASSICS → ASS → c-l-ASS-ics? ASS is a donkey! But that seems crude for NYT. What if they all contain a planet? • THEREFORE → no • CLASSICS → no • GUTHRIE → no • CREATE → no Greek gods? • THEREFORE → THERE has no god... wait: ARES? theREfore → no ARES • GUTHRIE → THRI → no • CREATE → CREA → no • CLASSICS → no What about card games? • CREATE → ECARTE (anagram!) - écarté is a card game • But this would be an anagram, not hidden. OK let me try yet another angle on the "mystery group." What if all four words can have a common prefix or suffix added? • RE + CREATE = RECREATE ✓ (that's a word!) • RE + GUTHRIE = REGUTHRIE? No. • RE + THEREFORE = RETHEREFORE? No. • RE + CLASSICS = RECLASSICS? No. Hmm, RECREATE works but not the others. What about removing a common prefix/suffix? • CREATE → removing "C" → REATE? No. • GUTHRIE → removing "G" → UTHRIE? No. What if we add WOOD to each? • WOOD + CREATE? No. • WOOD + GUTHRIE? No. Wait, what if these words each contain a word that can follow WOOD? • CREATE → CRATE? WOOD CRATE? That's a thing! • GUTHRIE → hmm, WOOD + ? hidden in GUTHRIE? • THEREFORE → THERE + FORE → WOOD FLOOR? No... • CLASSICS → CLASS? WOOD CLASS? No. Hmm, what about words hidden in them that can PRECEDE "wood"? • DRIFT + wood = driftwood → is DRIFT hidden in any? No. • FIRE + wood = firewood → is FIRE hidden in any? No. • DEAD + wood = deadwood • SOFT + wood = softwood • HARD + wood = hardwood • PLY + wood = plywood • RED + wood = redwood • BOX + wood = boxwood Hmm, let me check: • CREATE → CRATE... no wood compound • GUTHRIE → GUT... no wood compound • THEREFORE → THERE, FORE, ORE... no • CLASSICS → CLASS, LASS... no What if words can precede WOOD? • CLASSICS → CLASS + WOOD? No. What about compound words with the other key words? I'm going to try a different approach. Let me look at ALL remaining 12 words and think about what 4-letter (or other) words might be hidden in multiple words: Hidden "FORE": • thereFORE ✓ • FOGHORN → no FORE • Others → no Hidden "STOCK": • WOODSTOCK has STOCK • Others → no Hidden "HORN": • FOGHORN has HORN • Others → no Hmm, what if each word in one category contains a hidden GOLF term? • THEREFORE → FORE ✓ (golf shout) • CREATE → TEE? C-R-E-A-T-E → no TEE... wait: crEATE → no. creaTE → TE not TEE. • FOGHORN → no golf term • CLASSICS → no What if each word contains a hidden word that is something you shout? • THEREFORE → FORE (what you shout in golf) • SCROOGE → no • Hmm Let me try looking at this from the other direction. I'm fairly confident about: • Cartoon characters: FOGHORN, WOODSTOCK, SCROOGE, WOODY • Tongue twister: WOOD, COULD, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK Let me verify the tongue twister group. "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood" → distinct words: HOW, MUCH, WOOD, COULD, A, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK, IF From our remaining words: WOOD ✓, COULD ✓, WOODCHUCK ✓, CHUCK ✓ These are 4 of the 8 distinct words in the tongue twister. That seems like a solid category. Now, cartoon characters: • FOGHORN Leghorn ✓ • WOODSTOCK (Peanuts bird) ✓ • SCROOGE McDuck ✓ • WOODY Woodpecker / Woody from Toy Story / Woody from Cheers ✓ That leaves: CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS I need to find the connection. Let me try one more time with fresh eyes. CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS What if I look at this phonetically? • cree-ATE • GUTH-ree • THERE-fore • CLAS-sics What if each has a hidden word that's a person's name? • CREATE → no common name • GUTHRIE → GUTHRIE is itself a name, but what's hidden? "THRIE"? • THEREFORE → "THEREF"? No. • CLASSICS → "CLASSI"? No. What if each word sounds like it contains another word? • CREATE sounds like it contains "CREE" (indigenous people) + "ATE" (past tense of eat) • GUTHRIE → "GUTH" + "REE" → contains "REE"? • THEREFORE → "THERE" + "FOUR" → sounds like THERE + FOUR? Hmm! • CLASSICS → hmm Wait: THEREFORE sounds like "THERE-FOUR"! What if each word sounds like it contains a NUMBER? • THEREFORE → sounds like "there-FOUR" ✓ • CREATE → sounds like "cre-EIGHT"? ✓ (cr-EIGHT!) • CLASSICS → hmm, "class-SIX"? CLASS-ICS → CLASS + ICS → hmm, does ICS sound like SIX? Not really. • GUTHRIE → sounds like "guh-THREE"? ✓ (guh-THREE!) OH WAIT! CREATE → cr-EIGHT → 8! GUTHRIE → guh-THREE → 3! THEREFORE → there-FOUR → 4! CLASSICS → class-ICS → hmm... Wait, what about: classSIX? CLASS-ICS → CLASSIX → CLASS + IX → IX is 9 in Roman numerals! Or more simply: CLASSICS sounds like "CLASS-SICS" → "CLASS-SIX"? Hmm. Actually let me reconsider: • CREATE → cr + EIGHT = cr8 = CREATE! Like "cr8" text speak! So CREATE contains EIGHT • GUTHRIE → gu + THREE = guTHREE → GUTHRIE! Contains THREE! • THEREFORE → there + FOUR = thereFOUR → hmm, THEREFORE = THERE-FORE, and FORE sounds like FOUR! Contains FOUR! • CLASSICS → hmm... class + ICS... does it contain a number? Wait: CLASSTEN? No. CLASSONE? No. CLASSFIVE? No. CLASS-ICS → ICS → no number there. Let me look again: C-L-A-S-S-I-C-S Does it contain ONE? O-N-E → no O Does it contain TWO? T-W-O → no T Does it contain SIX? S-I-X → no X... wait, but phonetically "SICS" sounds like "SIXES"? No. Hmm, what about looking at this differently. If THEREFORE contains FOUR (there-FOUR-e? No... THEREFORE = T-H-E-R-E-F-O-R-E, and FOUR = F-O-U-R, which isn't there because there's no U. But phonetically: "there-FORE" → FORE sounds like FOUR! Similarly: • CREATE phonetically → "cre-ATE" → ATE sounds like EIGHT! • GUTHRIE phonetically → "guh-THRIE" → THRIE sounds like THREE! • THEREFORE phonetically → "there-FORE" → FORE sounds like FOUR! • CLASSICS phonetically → ... what number? CLASSICS → "CLAS-SICS" → SICS → hmm. Or "CLASS-ICS" → ICS → no number sound. Wait: CLASSIC → "CLAS-SIC" → SIC → sounds like SIX!!! CLASSICS contains SIX (sounds like SIC → SIX)! Wait, but the word is CLASSICS, not CLASSIC. Let me check: C-L-A-S-S-I-C-S The sounds: CLAS-SICS. And "SICS" doesn't quite sound like SIX. But "CLASSIC" ends in "-SIC" which sounds like "SICK" not "SIX." Hmm, but in the context of a word puzzle, maybe: • CREATE sounds like cr + EIGHT • GUTHRIE sounds like gu + THREE • THEREFORE sounds like there + FOUR • CLASSICS sounds like clas + SICS (SIX?) Actually, is it possible that CLASSICS is not in this group and instead another word is? Let me reconsider. What other words might hide a number? • FOGHORN → FOG + HORN → no number • WOODSTOCK → WOOD + STOCK → no number • SCROOGE → no number • WOODY → no number • WOOD → no number • COULD → no number • WOODCHUCK → no number • CHUCK → no number Hmm, none of the others obviously contain a number either. So CLASSICS must be the fourth. Actually wait: COULD → sounds like... no number. WOODSTOCK → WOOD + STOCK → no. What if SCROOGE → SCORE? No, that's not a number. STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED are already used. Among remaining: CREATE, FOGHORN, WOODSTOCK, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, WOODCHUCK, WOOD, CHUCK, SCROOGE, WOODY, CLASSICS, COULD If the "number hidden in sound" category is: CREATE (EIGHT), GUTHRIE (THREE), THEREFORE (FOUR), CLASSICS (SIX?) Then cartoon characters: FOGHORN, WOODSTOCK, SCROOGE, WOODY Tongue twister: WOOD, COULD, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK This works! Let me verify the numbers: • CREATE: "cr-EIGHT" → EIGHT (8) is hidden phonetically ✓ • GUTHRIE: "gu-THREE" → THREE (3) is hidden phonetically ✓ • THEREFORE: "there-FOUR" → FOUR (4) is hidden phonetically ✓ • CLASSICS: "clas-SIX" → SIX (6)? Hmm... C-L-A-S-S-I-C-S. Let me sound it out: "KLAS-iks" → does "-SICS" sound like SIX? "KLAS-SIKS" → "-SIKS" → SIKS → SIX? Maybe! Actually: CLASSICS = "CLASS-SICS" and the ending "-SICS" ≈ "SIKS" ≈ SICKS ≈ SIX? It's a stretch phonetically, but SIX could be hidden as S-I-C (with the S from the double S). Hmm wait, let me reconsider. In "CLASSICS": C-L-A-S-S-I-C-S The sequence S-I-C appears (positions 5,6,7) or (4,5,6): clasSICs SIC doesn't sound like SIX though. It sounds like "sick." But wait! The letter sequence S-I-X-... no X in CLASSICS. Let me reconsider: maybe it's not about sounds. Maybe it's about the actual letters: CREATE contains... E-I-G-H-T? C-R-E-A-T-E → no, E-I-G-H-T requires I,G,H which aren't in CREATE. OK so it must be phonetic/sound-based, not letter-based. CREATE = "cr" + ATE → ATE sounds like EIGHT ✓ GUTHRIE = "gu" + THRIE → THRIE sounds like THREE ✓ THEREFORE = "there" + FORE → FORE sounds like FOUR ✓ CLASSICS = "clas" + SICS → SICS sounds like... hmm. Actually wait: SIX doesn't have a K sound. "SICKS" has a K sound. SIX is "SIKS." And SICS is "SIKS." So SICS and SIX are actually pronounced the same way! Both are /sɪks/! Yes! "She sics her dog on intruders" → SICS is pronounced just like SIX! So: CLASSICS → CLASS + ICS → the ending sounds like SIX? Wait, is it CLASS-ICS or CLAS-SICS? The word CLASSICS is pronounced /ˈklæs.ɪks/. The last syllable is "-ics" = /ɪks/. That doesn't quite sound like SIX (/sɪks/). But if we take "-SICS" from CLASSICS → /sɪks/ → that DOES sound like SIX! classSICS → the SICS part sounds like SIX! OK I think this is the connection! Words that contain numbers hidden phonetically: • CREATE → EIGHT (cr+eight) • GUTHRIE → THREE (gu+three) • THEREFORE → FOUR (there+four) • CLASSICS → SIX (clas+six) This is actually a brilliant puzzle connection! I'm now quite confident about this. So my categories are: 1. ✓ STIFF, WOODEN, AWKWARD, STILTED (stiff/unnatural) 2. FOGHORN, WOODSTOCK, SCROOGE, WOODY (cartoon characters) 3. WOOD, COULD, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK (woodchuck tongue twister) 4. CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS (hidden numbers: EIGHT, THREE, FOUR, SIX) Now which should I guess next? I'm quite confident about all three remaining groups. Let me go with the numbers group since I just figured it out and want to verify. Actually, let me go with cartoon characters since I'm very confident about that: FOGHORN (Leghorn), WOODSTOCK (Peanuts), SCROOGE (McDuck), WOODY (Woodpecker/Toy Story) Or the numbers group: CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, CLASSICS I think the cartoon characters group is very solid. Let me go with that. Wait, actually, is there any risk that WOODSTOCK belongs in the tongue twister group instead? WOODSTOCK contains WOOD and STOCK... but STOCK isn't in the tongue twister. And WOODSTOCK is definitely a Peanuts character. So no, WOODSTOCK belongs in the cartoon group. Is there any risk that WOODY belongs elsewhere? WOODY could be associated with WOOD, WOODCHUCK, etc. But WOODY is definitely a cartoon character name (Woody Woodpecker, Woody from Toy Story). Let me go with the cartoon characters: FOGHORN, WOODSTOCK, SCROOGE, WOODY. Actually, I realize these might be more specifically CARTOON character first names, or character names from animated shows/movies: • FOGHORN (Leghorn) - Looney Tunes • WOODSTOCK - Peanuts • SCROOGE (McDuck) - DuckTales/Disney • WOODY - Toy Story / Woody Woodpecker Yes, I'll go with this.

Remaining 8 words: CREATE, GUTHRIE, THEREFORE, WOODCHUCK, WOOD, CHUCK, CLASSICS, COULD Two groups left: 1. Tongue twister words: WOOD, COULD, WOODCHUCK, CHUCK ("How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood") 2. Hidden numbers (phonetically): CREATE (cr-EIGHT), GUTHRIE (gu-THREE), THEREFORE (there-FOUR), CLASSICS (clas-SIX) I'm very confident about both. Let me go with the hidden numbers group.

The last four words are: WOODCHUCK, WOOD, CHUCK, COULD These are all words from the tongue twister: "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"

Let me analyze the 16 words and find four groups of four. OUTFIT, GAME, ABLE, EAVE, PARAMOUNT, DOWN, READY, SUBARU, NOAA, NASA, PREPARE, WILLING, EQUIP, CANE, N.F.L., EAGER Let me think about potential categories: 1. Willing/Ready synonyms: ABLE, READY, WILLING, EAGER - these all mean "prepared/inclined to do something." This feels very strong. 2. Words meaning "to prepare/equip": OUTFIT, PREPARE, EQUIP, GAME (as in "game ready"?) Hmm, OUTFIT can mean to equip, PREPARE means to get ready, EQUIP means to furnish... What about READY? READY can be a verb too ("ready yourself"). But I already used READY above. Let me reconsider. Wait - "WILLING, ABLE, READY, EAGER" could all be adjectives meaning "prepared/wanting to do something." And "OUTFIT, PREPARE, EQUIP, GAME" - GAME can mean ready/willing ("I'm game"). But could GAME be a verb meaning to prepare? Not really. Actually, let me reconsider. "READY, WILLING, and ABLE" is a famous phrase. EAGER also fits as a synonym. But wait - maybe there's a hidden word pattern. Let me look: • EAVE → contains hidden word? • CANE → CANE • DOWN → DOWN • GAME → GAME Let me think about acronyms: NOAA, NASA, N.F.L. - these are all acronyms. What else could be an acronym? SUBARU? No, that's a car brand. PARAMOUNT? No. Wait - things with mountain/peak connections: PARAMOUNT (paramount = supreme, but also Paramount has a mountain logo), SUBARU (stars), DOWN... Let me think about hidden words or words that can follow/precede a common word: Words ending in something: PARAMOUNT has MOUNT in it. SUBARU has... Actually, let me think about what contains hidden words: • PARAMOUNT → PARA + MOUNT • SUBARU → SUB + ARU? • OUTFIT → OUT + FIT • EAVE → hidden? • DOWN → DO + WN? • CANE → hidden? Words containing directions or positional words: • PARAMOUNT → MOUNT • DOWN → DOWN • SUBARU → contains nothing obvious • NOAA → NO + AA? Let me think about this differently. Categories in Connections are often tricky. Acronyms/Abbreviations: NOAA, NASA, N.F.L. — need a 4th. Could SUBARU be considered? No. ABLE? No. GAME? No. Wait — what if some words hide smaller words? • PARAMOUNT → contains AMOUNT (PAR-AMOUNT) • OUTFIT → contains OUTFI-T... no. OUT + FIT • EAVE → contains AVE • CANE → contains ANE? • DOWN → contains OWN (D-OWN) • GAME → contains AME • SUBARU → contains BAR (SU-BAR-U)? • NOAA → contains NO, OA • EAGER → contains AGE (E-AGER)? or EAGER • READY → contains READ (READ-Y) • ABLE → contains ABLE Hmm, words that contain other words when you remove first letter: • DOWN → OWN • EAVE → AVE • CANE → ANE? No... • GAME → AME? No... • PARAMOUNT → AMOUNT (remove PAR) • EAGER → AGER Words containing a number/card game... Let me try another approach. What about "___ feather"? DOWN feather. What about things that can precede or follow "town"? DOWN-town... Words that can follow "break": BREAKDOWN, BREAKABLE... not quite. Let me reconsider. What are organizations/brands? PARAMOUNT (studio), SUBARU (car), NOAA (weather agency), NASA (space agency), N.F.L. (football league). That's 5 - too many. Unless one doesn't belong. PARAMOUNT, SUBARU, NASA, N.F.L. — all have logos with stars? No... PARAMOUNT - mountain with stars SUBARU - stars (Pleiades) NASA - has a logo N.F.L. - has a logo Actually, SUBARU means "Pleiades" (star cluster). NASA deals with stars/space. What if the category is "organizations/companies with star logos"? • SUBARU has stars in logo • PARAMOUNT has stars • N.F.L. has stars? The NFL logo has stars! • NASA? Not really stars in logo... Hmm, let me think about what connects PARAMOUNT, SUBARU, NOAA, NASA differently. What if they all contain hidden words? • PARAMOUNT → AMOUNT • SUBARU → BAR (su-BAR-u) • NOAA → NO • NASA → ... Or maybe the category is about preparing/equipping someone: OUTFIT, EQUIP, PREPARE, READY (as verbs) - to ready, to outfit, to equip, to prepare And then ABLE, WILLING, EAGER, GAME (adjectives meaning willing/ready) That leaves: EAVE, PARAMOUNT, DOWN, SUBARU, NOAA, NASA, N.F.L., CANE What connects EAVE, PARAMOUNT, DOWN, SUBARU, NOAA, NASA, N.F.L., CANE? Hmm - 8 words for 2 groups. NOAA, NASA, N.F.L. + one more = acronyms/abbreviations? Is EAVE an abbreviation? No. CANE? No. DOWN? No. PARAMOUNT? No. SUBARU? No. Wait - what if words can have a letter added or removed to make something? CANE → CANOE (add O)? EAVE → WEAVE (add W), LEAVE (add L), HEAVE (add H) DOWN → DOWNS Let me think about "___s" or compound words: • EAVES (drop) → EAVESDROP • CANE (sugar) → SUGARCANE • DOWN (break) → BREAKDOWN? Hmm, what about words that become new words with a prefix or suffix? Hurricane-related: EAVE (part of roof), DOWN (as in weather), NOAA (weather service), CANE (hurriCANE)... Actually! HURRICANE → CANE is hidden in hurriCANE What about words hidden in longer weather-related words? PARAMOUNT → hidden in something? Let me think: words hidden inside other words: • hurriCANE → CANE • EAVE → in... weave, heave, leave • DOWN → sunDOWN, breakDOWN Actually, what if they all hide inside weather phenomena or storms? Or what about words that are parts of longer words when combined with a common element? N.F.L., NOAA, NASA — and what if SUBARU contains something? Let me try: Things with STARS • SUBARU (means "united stars" / Pleiades) • PARAMOUNT (logo has stars circling a mountain) • NASA (associated with stars/space) • N.F.L. (logo has stars) Hmm, or things whose LOGOS feature stars specifically: • SUBARU ✓ (6 stars) • PARAMOUNT ✓ (22 stars circling mountain) • N.F.L. ✓ (stars around the shield) • NASA ✓ (has stars in its logo/meatball) • NOAA? (does NOAA have stars? Looking at it... the NOAA logo might have some elements) Actually, wait. Let me reconsider. EU flag has stars, US flag has stars... Hmm, but if the category is "logos with stars," that might be: SUBARU, PARAMOUNT, N.F.L., and... NASA or NOAA? NOAA logo - it's a circle with a stylized bird/ship... I think it might not have stars prominently. NASA logo - the "meatball" has stars in it. So maybe: SUBARU, PARAMOUNT, NASA, N.F.L. — logos featuring stars? And NOAA goes elsewhere? But where? Let me reconsider the groupings: Group 1 (adjectives = willing): ABLE, WILLING, EAGER, GAME Group 2 (verbs = to prepare): OUTFIT, EQUIP, PREPARE, READY Group 3 (logos with stars): SUBARU, PARAMOUNT, NASA, N.F.L. Group 4: EAVE, DOWN, NOAA, CANE What connects EAVE, DOWN, NOAA, CANE? NOAA stands for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. EAVE, DOWN, CANE — what do these have in common with NOAA? OH WAIT. What if they can all follow "HURRI-"? No, only CANE works. What about words associated with a HOUSE/ROOF? • EAVE (part of a roof) • DOWN (down payment on a house?) • CANE (walking cane?) Hmm, what about words that sound like letters or can be preceded by the same word? SUGAR + CANE = SUGARCANE GOOSE + DOWN = GOOSEDOWN ... + EAVE = ? Words hidden in longer words: • hurriCANE • eiDERDOWN? • wEAVE... EAVE is in WEAVE, HEAVE, LEAVE, REAVE What if they can all have a letter added to the front? • CANE → CRANE (add R), PLANE? No. • DOWN → GDOWN? No, GOWN (remove D, add G? That's substitution) • EAVE → HEAVE, LEAVE, WEAVE (add H, L, W) • NOAA → ? What about anagrams? • CANE → ACNE, NACE • DOWN → ROWN? WOND? No meaningful ones • EAVE → ... • NOAA → ANOA (a type of buffalo) Hmm let me think differently about group 4. What if NOAA doesn't go with the acronym group, and instead: Group 3 (abbreviations): NASA, N.F.L., NOAA, and... ? What's the 4th abbreviation? Could PARAMOUNT be one? No. SUBARU? No. Actually wait — is GAME an abbreviation? G.A.M.E.? Unlikely. What about DOWN? Is DOWN an acronym? No. Hmm, what if one of my assumed groups is wrong? Let me reconsider: READY could be an adjective (willing group) rather than a verb (prepare group). If READY moves to the adjective group: ABLE, WILLING, EAGER, READY, GAME — that's 5. Too many. "Ready, willing, and able" is a famous phrase. GAME also means willing. EAGER also means willing. So the "willing" group could be: ABLE, WILLING, EAGER, GAME (all adjectives meaning "willing/ready to do something") And READY stays as a verb in: OUTFIT, EQUIP, PREPARE, READY (all verbs meaning "to make prepared") Hmm, but "ready" as a verb is less common. "Ready the troops" works though. OK let me try a different approach for the remaining 4: EAVE, DOWN, NOAA, CANE, SUBARU, PARAMOUNT, NASA, N.F.L. If stars-in-logo: SUBARU, PARAMOUNT, NASA, N.F.L. Remaining: EAVE, DOWN, NOAA, CANE What connects EAVE, DOWN, NOAA, CANE? They could all relate to weather/storms? • NOAA = weather agency • CANE = hurricane (hurriCANE) • DOWN = downpour? • EAVE = eavestrough (where rain flows)? Or maybe they can all follow a word: • BREAK + DOWN = BREAKDOWN • SUGAR + CANE = SUGARCANE • ? + EAVE = ? • ? + NOAA = ? Or precede a word: • DOWN + POUR, FALL, TOWN, WARD • CANE + SUGAR? No, that's backwards. • EAVE + S → EAVES • EAVES + DROP = EAVESDROP Hmm, what if they all have a silent letter or unusual pronunciation? Or what if the connection involves removing/adding letters to get a new word? Let me try: hidden consecutive letters that spell something: • EAVE: E-A-V-E • DOWN: D-O-W-N • NOAA: N-O-A-A • CANE: C-A-N-E Hmm, what about weather terms hidden inside? • CANE contains... • DOWN contains... • NOAA contains... • EAVE contains... Wait, what if the pattern is about the letters themselves? Each word contains a musical note? • CANE: no (A is a note though) • EAVE: no • DOWN: DO is a note! (DO-WN) • Actually, EAVE doesn't contain a standard note... Solfège notes: DO, RE, MI, FA, SO, LA, TI • DOWN → DO • READY → RE (RE-ADY)... but I put READY in the verb group • GAME → no • PARAMOUNT → no • EAGLE → no wait, EAGER → no Hmm wait, let me check all words for hidden solfège: • OUTFIT → no... wait, U-T-FIT? No • GAME → no • ABLE → LA is in there (AB-LA? No, A-B-L-E)... Actually no • EAVE → no • PARAMOUNT → contains "FA"? No... PA-RA-MOUNT → RA? RE? No, PARA... • DOWN → DO (DO-WN) ✓ • READY → RE (RE-ADY) ✓ • SUBARU → SU-BA-RU → no clear note • NOAA → no • NASA → no • PREPARE → RE? PRE-PA-RE → RE at end ✓? But also at beginning (PRE) • WILLING → no • EQUIP → no • CANE → no • N.F.L. → no • EAGER → no Only found DO in DOWN and RE in READY... not enough. Let me try a totally different approach. What if some words can be preceded by the same word? ___ DOWN: BREAK, LET, SUN, PUT, TOUCH, MARK, SHOW, KNOCK, SHUT, SLOW, LOCK, RUN, COOL... ___ GAME: BALL, END, WAR, MIND... ___ CANE: SUGAR, HURRI(CANE) ___ EAVE: not common What about "EVER" + ? EVERGREEN, EVERMORE... no. "OVER" + ? OVERCOME... no direct match. How about ___ READY: ALREADY? That's AL+READY. ___ ABLE: CAPABLE? That's a stretch. ___ EAGER: not common OK what about WORDS that can follow the same word? GOOSE: GOOSE DOWN, GOOSE GAME (Untitled Goose Game? stretch), GOOSE OUTFIT? No. BREAK: BREAKDOWN ✓ CANDY: CANDY CANE ✓ What follows CANDY? CANDY CANE. What follows SUGAR? SUGAR CANE. Hmm, let me think about "things that can come after EVER-": EVERGREEN, EVERMORE... nah. What about compound words or two-word phrases where all share the same first word? TOUCH + DOWN = TOUCHDOWN ✓ What else? TOUCH + ? Or SUN + ? SUNDOWN ✓ SUN... BURN? SUNBURN? Not matching our words. Let me try: words that go with BREAK: BREAK + DOWN = BREAKDOWN ✓ BREAK + ABLE = BREAKABLE? Hmm, not really how Connections works BREAK + EVEN... not EAVE Hmm, what if the words can all follow "S"? SDOWN? No. SCANE? No. OK I think I need to step back. Let me be more confident about my strongest groups and start guessing. I'm most confident about: • ABLE, WILLING, EAGER, GAME (adjectives meaning "willing/up for it") • OUTFIT, EQUIP, PREPARE, READY (verbs meaning "to make ready/prepare") Wait, but GAME as "willing" — "I'm game" means "I'm willing." Yes, that works. Let me also consider: could OUTFIT be in the "willing" group? No, OUTFIT doesn't mean willing. Could DOWN be in either group? "I'm down" means "I'm willing/game" in slang! So maybe: ABLE, WILLING, EAGER, DOWN? Or GAME, WILLING, EAGER, DOWN? Hmm, "I'm down" = "I'm willing" in modern slang. That's interesting. If DOWN is in the willing group, then one of ABLE, WILLING, EAGER, GAME drops out. "Ready, willing, and able" — that's a set phrase. GAME and DOWN and EAGER all also mean willing. So the adjectives meaning "willing" could be any 4 of: ABLE, WILLING, EAGER, GAME, DOWN, READY That's 6 possible words for one group of 4. I need to figure out which 4. Hmm, what if READY, DOWN, GAME go in different groups? Let me reconsider the verbs meaning "to prepare": OUTFIT, EQUIP, PREPARE, and... if not READY, then what's the 4th? READY (verb: "ready the troops"), GAME (not a verb meaning prepare), DOWN (not really)... ARM? Not in the list. Actually, what about WILLING? No, that's not "to prepare." ABLE? "To able"? No, that's not a verb. So the verbs "to prepare" group almost certainly needs READY: OUTFIT, EQUIP, PREPARE, READY. That means READY is in the verb group, not the adjective group. So adjectives meaning "willing": ABLE, WILLING, EAGER, and one of {GAME, DOWN}. If DOWN is in this group, where does GAME go? If GAME is in this group, where does DOWN go? DOWN could go with EAVE, NOAA, CANE in group 4. GAME could go with EAVE, NOAA, CANE in group 4. Hmm, let me think about what EAVE, NOAA, CANE could connect with: • With DOWN: EAVE, DOWN, NOAA, CANE — connection? • With GAME: EAVE, GAME, NOAA, CANE — connection? EAVE + S = EAVES. EAVES are architectural. CANE is a stick or sugar cane. NOAA is weather agency. What if they're all hidden inside longer words? • hurriCANE ✓ • wEAVE? → EAVE is in WEAVE, HEAVE, LEAVE • ??? NOAA → no common word contains NOAA • touchDOWN → DOWN is in many words Hmm, NOAA doesn't hide well in other words. Let me think about this differently. What if NOAA goes with the acronym group? Organizations: NASA, N.F.L., NOAA, and... SUBARU? No, SUBARU isn't an acronym. PARAMOUNT? No. Wait, is there a 4th acronym? Let me look at all words again: OUTFIT, GAME, ABLE, EAVE, PARAMOUNT, DOWN, READY, SUBARU, NOAA, NASA, PREPARE, WILLING, EQUIP, CANE, N.F.L., EAGER Acronyms I see: NOAA, NASA, N.F.L. — only 3 clear acronyms. Unless... one of the other words is secretly an acronym? • EAGER? No. • ABLE? No. • GAME? Could be but unlikely. • CANE? No. • EAVE? No. So there's not a group of 4 acronyms. OK so the groups must be: 1. Adjectives meaning willing: 4 of {ABLE, WILLING, EAGER, GAME, DOWN} 2. Verbs meaning to prepare: OUTFIT, EQUIP, PREPARE, READY 3. ?: likely includes PARAMOUNT, SUBARU, NASA, N.F.L. (or 3 of these + something) 4. ?: EAVE, CANE, NOAA + something Hmm, what connects PARAMOUNT, SUBARU, NASA, N.F.L.? • All have logos featuring stars? That's possible. • All are proper nouns/organizations? SUBARU is a car company, PARAMOUNT is a movie studio, NASA is a space agency, N.F.L. is a sports league. They're all organizations but very different kinds. Stars in logos: • SUBARU: Yes, constellation of stars (Pleiades) ✓ • PARAMOUNT: Yes, stars circling the mountain ✓ • NASA: Yes, stars in the "meatball" logo ✓ • N.F.L.: Yes, stars on the logo ✓ • NOAA: I'm not sure... let me think. The NOAA logo has a seabird and... I think it might have stars too, but I'm less sure. Hmm, if NOAA also has stars, then we have 5 candidates for the stars group. Wait, if stars in logo: SUBARU, PARAMOUNT, NASA, N.F.L. — and NOAA is in group 4. Then group 4: EAVE, CANE, NOAA, and one from {GAME, DOWN, ABLE, WILLING, EAGER} What if group 4 is: EAVE, CANE, NOAA, DOWN? Connection between EAVE, CANE, NOAA, DOWN? All hurricane/weather related? • NOAA: weather agency ✓ • CANE: hurricANE ✓ • DOWN: downpour? Or things that come down (rain)? • EAVE: what rain falls off of? Or... what if they can all follow "HURRI"? • HURRICANE → CANE ✓ • HURRIDOWN? No. What if they all contain hidden weather words? • CANE → hurriCANE has CANE • DOWN → ?, • EAVE → heave? Hmm. What about words associated with walking sticks or mobility: CANE (walking cane)... that's just one. Let me try another angle. What about animals hidden in these words? • EAVE → has "AVE" (bird in Latin root?) • CANE → no animal • DOWN → OWN? DOW? ASS? No • PARAMOUNT → RAM (PA-RAM-OUNT) ✓ • SUBARU → no • NASA → ASS? No. GNU? No • EAGER → no • NOAA → NOA(H)? Hidden animals: • PARAMOUNT → RAM ✓ • CANE → ANE? no... wait, CRANE has CANE? No, CANE doesn't contain an animal • EAVE → no animal • EAGER → actually, EAGLE? E-AGLE-R? No, EAGER is E-A-G-E-R... EAG-ER... Hmm, let me look for hidden words more carefully: • PARAMOUNT: PAR-AMOUNT → AMOUNT, or PA-RAM-OUNT → RAM, or PARA-MOUNT → MOUNT • SUBARU: SUB-ARU, or SU-BAR-U → BAR • NOAA: NO-AA • NASA: NAS-A, NA-SA • N.F.L.: NFL • EAVE: EAV-E, E-AVE → AVE • CANE: CAN-E, C-ANE → CAN or ANE • DOWN: DOW-N, D-OWN → OWN • OUTFIT: OUT-FIT → FIT, OUT • GAME: GAM-E, G-AME → AME • ABLE: A-BLE, AB-LE • READY: READ-Y → READ ✓ • WILLING: WILL-ING → WILL ✓ • EQUIP: EQUI-P, E-QUIP → QUIP ✓ • PREPARE: PRE-PARE → PARE ✓, or PREP-ARE → ARE • EAGER: EAGLE? No. E-AGER → AGER Wait! Hidden words: • READY → READ • WILLING → WILL • EQUIP → QUIP • PREPARE → PREP, PARE Hmm, READY contains READ, WILLING contains WILL... these are words hidden inside. Actually, what if the connection is "contains another word inside"? All words contain smaller words, but what if there's a thematic connection among the hidden words? Let me check each word for interesting hidden words: • OUTFIT → OUT, FIT • GAME → GAM (a leg in heraldry?) • ABLE → AB, BLE • EAVE → AVE (a greeting/farewell) • PARAMOUNT → PAR, PARA, RAM, MOUNT, AMOUNT • DOWN → DO, OWN, DOW • READY → READ, AD • SUBARU → SUB, BAR • NOAA → NO, OA • NASA → NAS • PREPARE → PRE, PREP, PARE, ARE, PAR, RE • WILLING → WILL, ILL, IN • EQUIP → EQUI, QUI, QUIP • CANE → CAN, AN, ANE • N.F.L. → (abbreviation, probably no hidden words) • EAGER → AGE, AGER Hmm, what if the category is "words containing a word meaning 'a document' or 'legal term'"? • WILLING → WILL (legal document) ✓ • PARAMOUNT → ... AMOUNT? • READY → READ? This doesn't seem to work cleanly. What about hidden body parts? • CANE → no • EAVE → no • PARAMOUNT → ARM! (pARAMount → wait, P-A-R-A-M-O-U-N-T... ARM? par-A-R-M... no, it's P-A-R-A-M-O-U-N-T) Hmm, no ARM in PARAMOUNT. Let me spell it out: P-A-R-A-M-O-U-N-T. What about SHINBONE → SHIN? OK I think I'm overcomplicating this. Let me go back to basics. Let me consider that the four groups might be: Group A - Adjectives meaning "willing/ready": ABLE, EAGER, GAME, WILLING Group B - Verbs meaning "prepare/equip": EQUIP, OUTFIT, PREPARE, READY Group C - Organizations with stars in their logo: N.F.L., NASA, PARAMOUNT, SUBARU Group D - ?: CANE, DOWN, EAVE, NOAA For Group D, what connects CANE, DOWN, EAVE, NOAA? Could these all precede or follow a common word? ___ CANE: SUGAR, CANDY, HURRI(CANE) ___ DOWN: BREAK, TOUCH, SUN, SHOW, LET, MARK, KNOCK, SHUT, COUNT ___ EAVE: nothing common precedes EAVE ___ NOAA: nothing common CANE ___: SUGAR, TOAD? DOWN ___: TOWN, POUR, FALL, WARD, STAIRS, HILL, SIDE, TIME, STREAM, TURN, LOAD, PLAY, GRADE, SWING, SLIDE, RIGHT, WIND EAVE ___: S, SDROP NOAA ___: H? What if they all have something to do with hurricanes? • CANE (hurriCANE) • DOWN (downgrade a hurricane?) • EAVE (eaves are damaged by hurricanes?) • NOAA (tracks hurricanes) Hmm, but that's a loose connection. What if they can all precede DROPS or SPOUT or something? • EAVE + SPOUT? EAVESPOUT? Not standard • EAVE + SDROP = EAVESDROP • RAIN + DOWN? CANE? What if each hides a letter combination or has a pattern? Wait — what if they all relate to DUCKS or BIRDS? • DOWN (duck down, feathers) ✓ • EAVE (eave as in under the eaves where birds nest?) ✓ • CANE (duck CANE? No...) • NOAA (no...) What about "things associated with a roof"? • EAVE (part of a roof) ✓ • DOWN (downspout from roof) ✓? Loose • CANE (no...) • NOAA (no...) Let me try yet another approach. What if they all sound like or contain names? CANE → KANE DOWN → DON? DAWN? EAVE → EVE ✓ NOAA → NOAH ✓ So EAVE sounds like EVE, NOAA sounds like NOAH — both biblical names! CANE → CAIN (biblical!) ✓ DOWN → hmm... not a biblical name directly But CAIN, EVE, NOAH are all from Genesis! What about the 4th? DOWN → ? Could DOWN relate to a biblical figure? Not obviously. But wait — let me look at ALL words for hidden/similar biblical names: • ABLE → ABEL ✓ (ABLE is an anagram of ABEL!) • CANE → CAIN ✓ (sounds like CAIN) • EAVE → EVE ✓ (sounds like EVE) • NOAA → NOAH ✓ (sounds like/similar to NOAH) ABEL, CAIN, EVE, NOAH — all from Genesis! And they're the first family! So Group D: ABLE, CANE, EAVE, NOAA — words that sound like/are near-homophones of biblical figures from Genesis! But wait, I had ABLE in the "willing" group. Let me reconsider. If ABLE goes to the biblical group, then the "willing" group needs a replacement. Could it be DOWN? "I'm down" = "I'm willing" ✓ So: Group A - Adjectives meaning "willing": DOWN, EAGER, GAME, WILLING Group B - Verbs meaning "to prepare": EQUIP, OUTFIT, PREPARE, READY Group C - Stars in logo: N.F.L., NASA, PARAMOUNT, SUBARU Group D - Sounds like biblical figures: ABLE (ABEL), CANE (CAIN), EAVE (EVE), NOAA (NOAH) This is elegant! The biblical group is definitely the trickiest (purple?). Let me verify: • ABLE → ABEL (Adam and Eve's son) ✓ • CANE → CAIN (Adam and Eve's other son) ✓ • EAVE → EVE (first woman) ✓ • NOAA → NOAH (built the ark) ✓ Yes! This makes perfect sense. All Genesis characters, and each word is a near-homophone or anagram. Now let me verify my other groups: • DOWN, EAGER, GAME, WILLING: all adjectives meaning "willing/ready to do something" ✓ • EQUIP, OUTFIT, PREPARE, READY: all verbs meaning "to equip/prepare" ✓ • N.F.L., NASA, PARAMOUNT, SUBARU: all have stars in their logo ✓ I'm quite confident in this breakdown. Let me start with the group I'm most confident about. I think the biblical names group is very strong: ABLE, CANE, EAVE, NOAA. Actually, let me start with the one I'm most sure about. The biblical names is clever and tight. Let me go with the verbs group first since it's very clean. Actually, I'll start with the biblical group since it's the most distinctive and I'm very confident: ABLE (ABEL), CANE (CAIN), EAVE (EVE), NOAA (NOAH) Wait, but I should consider: could any other words also sound like biblical names? • PARAMOUNT → no • SUBARU → no • NASA → NAZA? No • N.F.L. → no • DOWN → DAN? That's a stretch • GAME → no • EAGER → no • WILLING → no • EQUIP → no • OUTFIT → no • PREPARE → no • READY → no OK, only those 4 work. I'm very confident. Let me go with the biblical group.

Now I have 12 remaining words: OUTFIT, GAME, PARAMOUNT, DOWN, READY, SUBARU, NASA, PREPARE, WILLING, EQUIP, N.F.L., EAGER My predicted groups: 1. Adjectives meaning "willing": DOWN, EAGER, GAME, WILLING 2. Verbs meaning "to prepare/equip": EQUIP, OUTFIT, PREPARE, READY 3. Stars in logo: N.F.L., NASA, PARAMOUNT, SUBARU Let me go with the one I'm most confident about. The verbs meaning "to prepare" is very clean: • EQUIP: to furnish with necessary items ✓ • OUTFIT: to provide with equipment ✓ • PREPARE: to make ready ✓ • READY: to make prepared ("ready the troops") ✓ The "willing" group is also strong: • DOWN: "I'm down" = willing ✓ • EAGER: enthusiastically willing ✓ • GAME: "I'm game" = willing ✓ • WILLING: directly means willing ✓ The stars-in-logo group: • SUBARU: Pleiades star cluster ✓ • PARAMOUNT: stars circling the mountain ✓ • NASA: stars in the meatball logo ✓ • N.F.L.: stars on the shield logo ✓ I'll go with the verbs meaning "to prepare" since it's very clean and unambiguous.

Remaining 8 words: GAME, PARAMOUNT, DOWN, SUBARU, NASA, WILLING, N.F.L., EAGER My predicted groups: 1. Adjectives meaning "willing": DOWN, EAGER, GAME, WILLING 2. Stars in logo: N.F.L., NASA, PARAMOUNT, SUBARU Both groups feel very strong. Let me go with the "willing" group. • DOWN: "I'm down" = willing ✓ • EAGER: enthusiastically willing ✓ • GAME: "I'm game" = willing ✓ • WILLING: directly means willing ✓

The last four words are: PARAMOUNT, SUBARU, NASA, N.F.L. These all have stars in their logos: • PARAMOUNT: stars circling the mountain • SUBARU: Pleiades star cluster • NASA: stars in the logo • N.F.L.: stars on the shield

Let me analyze these 16 words and try to find four groups of four. Available words: EARRING, FOUR-LETTER WORDS, HERRING, MOUSE, MYSTERY, CHRISTMAS, STIRRING, HISTAMINE, SWEARING, PROFANITY, NECKLACE, OUROBOROS, PLEATHER VEST, EXPLETIVES, HOUSE, MESH SHIRT Let me think about potential categories: 1. Synonyms for curse words/profanity: FOUR-LETTER WORDS, SWEARING, PROFANITY, EXPLETIVES - these are all synonyms for bad language/cursing. This seems very strong. 2. Words containing a hidden word or pattern: Let me look for hidden words: - EARRING contains "RING" - HERRING contains "RING" - STIRRING contains "RING" - OUROBOROS contains... "ROB"? "BORON"? - HISTAMINE contains "HIST" or "STAIN" or "HIS" - CHRISTMAS contains "CHRIST" or "MAS" - NECKLACE contains "NECK" or "LACE" - MOUSE contains "MOOSE"? No... Wait - words ending in RING: EARRING, HERRING, STIRRING... what's the fourth? 3. Things that are ___ something: - MOUSE - computer mouse, house mouse - HOUSE - - MYSTERY - - CHRISTMAS - 4. ___ party: HOUSE party, CHRISTMAS party, MYSTERY party... 5. Types of music: HOUSE music, CHRISTMAS music... 6. "Not a creature was ___": STIRRING - from "Twas the Night Before Christmas" - "not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse" Wait, let me think about "The Night Before Christmas" poem connections: • STIRRING ("not a creature was stirring") • MOUSE ("not even a mouse") • CHRISTMAS (the poem title) • What else? 7. Guy Fieri outfit/accessories: PLEATHER VEST, MESH SHIRT, NECKLACE, EARRING? Guy Fieri is known for his spiky hair, flame shirts, and jewelry. Or maybe it's about a specific person's look. Actually, let me think about accessories/jewelry: EARRING, NECKLACE... PLEATHER VEST and MESH SHIRT are clothing items. Maybe these four go together as things you wear? 8. Contains "HE": HERRING (HE), MESH SHIRT (HE)... not strong. Let me reconsider. Hidden words: • EARRING → EAR + RING • HERRING → HER + RING • STIRRING → STIR + RING • OUROBOROS → a snake eating its own tail, which is a RING shape Wait, could the connection be "RING"? EARRING, HERRING, STIRRING all contain "RING". And OUROBOROS is a circular ring shape. But NECKLACE is also ring-shaped... Actually, OUROBOROS is literally a ring/circle. That could work: things that are or contain RING. But let me think differently. What about "___ RING"? Boxing ring, ring... Or things containing the word RING: EARRING, HERRING, STIRRING... and what's the fourth? Hmm, let me look at HISTAMINE - contains "HIS" and "STAM"... no RING. CHRISTMAS - no RING. NECKLACE - no RING. Maybe OUROBOROS is the fourth because it IS a ring (circular symbol). Let me reconsider the groups: Group 1: Synonyms for profanity: FOUR-LETTER WORDS, SWEARING, PROFANITY, EXPLETIVES ✓ Group 2: Contains "RING": EARRING, HERRING, STIRRING, + one more? • Maybe the category is broader - words that end in a sound? Group 3: Guy Fieri aesthetic: PLEATHER VEST, MESH SHIRT, NECKLACE, EARRING? These could be things Guy Fieri wears. Group 4: Could relate to HOUSE, MOUSE, CHRISTMAS, MYSTERY... • "___ party"? House party, Christmas party... mystery party? • "__ cat"? House cat... • Actually, HOUSE MOUSE CHRISTMAS... "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" - "not a creature was STIRRING, not even a MOUSE" Wait: HOUSE, MOUSE, CHRISTMAS, HISTAMINE - do these contain something? • HOUSE → "OUSE" • MOUSE → "OUSE" • Hmm, both contain OUSE. Words containing hidden animals? • MOUSE is itself an animal • HERRING is a fish • OUROBOROS contains... no Let me try: ___ music: HOUSE music, CHRISTMAS music, MYSTERY music?... no. Hmm, what about words/phrases that can follow a common word? • MYSTERY: murder mystery • HOUSE: • CHRISTMAS: Or precede a common word? • HOUSE + ___: housework, household • MOUSE + ___: mousetrap, mousepad • CHRISTMAS + ___: Christmas tree Let me think about "RING" again more carefully: • EARRING = contains RING • HERRING = contains RING • STIRRING = contains RING • What else contains RING? None of the remaining words literally contain R-I-N-G. Unless... OUROBOROS represents a ring. Or NECKLACE is ring-shaped (goes around). Actually, maybe the group is words that contain RING, and there are only 3 + one conceptual one. Let me check all words again: FOUR-LETTER WORDS - no RING MOUSE - no MYSTERY - no CHRISTMAS - no HISTAMINE - no (HIST-A-MINE) SWEARING - SWEARING! Contains "RING"? S-W-E-A-R-I-N-G. Yes! RING is at the end! So: EARRING, HERRING, STIRRING, SWEARING - all contain "RING"! Wait, but SWEARING could also go with the profanity group. Let me check: • FOUR-LETTER WORDS, SWEARING, PROFANITY, EXPLETIVES = profanity synonyms • EARRING, HERRING, STIRRING, ??? = contain RING If SWEARING goes in the RING group, then the profanity group needs a replacement. What could replace SWEARING? Hmm, CURSING would be profanity but it's not in the list. What about... no, I think the profanity group is FOUR-LETTER WORDS, SWEARING, PROFANITY, EXPLETIVES and that's tight. But SWEARING contains RING too. This is the kind of overlap the puzzle creators love to exploit. Let me reconsider. If SWEARING is in the RING group: • Profanity group needs 4: FOUR-LETTER WORDS, PROFANITY, EXPLETIVES, + ??? (CURSING isn't available) • Could HERRING be "RED HERRING" and relate to MYSTERY? Hmm wait. Let me think about what other word could mean profanity... • MESH SHIRT? No. • MOUSE? No. I don't think there's a 4th profanity synonym without SWEARING. So SWEARING goes with profanity, and the RING group has: EARRING, HERRING, STIRRING + one more. Let me recheck ALL words for hidden RING: • EARRING: EAR-RING ✓ • FOUR-LETTER WORDS: no • HERRING: HER-RING ✓ • MOUSE: no • MYSTERY: no • CHRISTMAS: no • STIRRING: STIR-RING ✓ • HISTAMINE: no • SWEARING: SWEA-RING ✓ • PROFANITY: no • NECKLACE: no • OUROBOROS: no • PLEATHER VEST: no • EXPLETIVES: no • HOUSE: no • MESH SHIRT: no So 4 words contain RING: EARRING, HERRING, STIRRING, SWEARING. This means the profanity group is: FOUR-LETTER WORDS, PROFANITY, EXPLETIVES + one more. What else means profanity/bad language? • CURSING, BLASPHEMY, OBSCENITY... • Could MYSTERY be rearranged? No. • MESH SHIRT? No. Hmm, let me think differently. Maybe the profanity group is only 3 of those + something else. Or maybe the category isn't "profanity" but something else that connects FOUR-LETTER WORDS, PROFANITY, EXPLETIVES and a 4th word. Wait - what about CHRISTMAS? "CHRISTMAS" is an EXPLETIVE sometimes? No... What if the category is "things preceded by a color or descriptor"? • RED HERRING • BLUE language? Let me reconsider entirely. OUROBOROS - a snake eating its tail, symbol of infinity/cycle PLEATHER VEST - fake leather vest MESH SHIRT - a shirt made of mesh NECKLACE - jewelry What if some of these relate to a specific character or show? Guy Fieri: known for wearing flame shirts, jewelry, bleached spiky hair • Could wear: EARRING, NECKLACE, PLEATHER VEST, MESH SHIRT? Or maybe "things a rock star wears": MESH SHIRT, PLEATHER VEST, NECKLACE, EARRING Hmm wait, if EARRING is in the "rock star outfit" group, then the RING group loses a member. Let me reconsider. The RING group is very clean with 4 members: EARRING, HERRING, STIRRING, SWEARING. If that's right, then we need to find what goes with profanity that ISN'T SWEARING: FOUR-LETTER WORDS, PROFANITY, EXPLETIVES, + ??? Hmm... could CHRISTMAS be involved? Like "Christmas" is sometimes used as a mild expletive? Not really strong enough. What about BLUE language? No "BLUE" in the list. Actually, wait. Let me reconsider the categories. Maybe the hidden word isn't RING but something else. What if the category is "words ending in -ING" but that's too broad? EARRING, HERRING, STIRRING, SWEARING all end in -ING but many words do. The specific hidden word RING is cleaner. OK let me try another approach. Let me look at the remaining 12 words (excluding the 4 RING words): FOUR-LETTER WORDS, MOUSE, MYSTERY, CHRISTMAS, HISTAMINE, PROFANITY, NECKLACE, OUROBOROS, PLEATHER VEST, EXPLETIVES, HOUSE, MESH SHIRT Possible groupings: 1. Profanity synonyms: FOUR-LETTER WORDS, PROFANITY, EXPLETIVES + 1 more 2. Outfit items: NECKLACE, PLEATHER VEST, MESH SHIRT + 1 more (EARRING taken by RING group) 3. ???: MOUSE, MYSTERY, CHRISTMAS, HISTAMINE, OUROBOROS, HOUSE MOUSE and HOUSE rhyme. CHRISTMAS... What about "___ cat"? No... "Full ___": FULL HOUSE, FULL MOUSE? No. What if it's about "things that can follow a word"? • HAUNTED HOUSE • MYSTERY... Wait, "IT'S A ___"? "It's a mystery", "It's a mouse"... What about hidden words again in the remaining: • HISTAMINE: HIS, HIST, STAIN, MINE, AMINE • CHRISTMAS: CHRIS, CHRIST, MAS • OUROBOROS: OUR, ROB, BORON, BORO • NECKLACE: NECK, LACE, ACE • PLEATHER VEST: PLEAT, LEATHER, HER, VEST, LEATHER • MESH SHIRT: MESH, HER, SHIRT, HI, IRT • PROFANITY: PRO, FAN, FANIT, PROFIT? No - P-R-O-F-A-N-I-T-Y • EXPLETIVES: EX, PLET, LIVE, TIVES • FOUR-LETTER WORDS: FOUR, LETTER, WORDS, OUR • MOUSE: MO, USE, MUSE, OUSE • MYSTERY: MY, MYST, MYSTERY • HOUSE: HO, USE, OUSE, OUR? No - H-O-U-S-E Hmm, MOUSE and HOUSE both contain "OUSE". And HOUSE contains "OUS". Not sure if that helps. Let me think about the poem "'Twas the Night Before Christmas": "Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse" • STIRRING and MOUSE are from this poem • CHRISTMAS is in the title • HOUSE: "settling our brains for a long winter's nap" / actually the first line "Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house" So: CHRISTMAS, HOUSE, STIRRING, MOUSE - all from "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"! That's a strong group! Let me verify: "'Twas the night before CHRISTMAS, when all through the HOUSE, not a creature was STIRRING, not even a MOUSE" Yes! These are all from the famous opening lines! But wait, STIRRING was in my RING group too. And SWEARING was replacing it. So let me reconsider: • 'Twas the Night Before Christmas: CHRISTMAS, HOUSE, STIRRING, MOUSE • Contains RING: EARRING, HERRING, SWEARING, + ??? (lost STIRRING) Hmm, now the RING group only has 3. What's the 4th? NECKLACE? No RING. OUROBOROS? No literal RING but it IS a ring shape. PLEATHER VEST? No. MESH SHIRT? No. Hmm. Unless OUROBOROS counts because it's a ring/circle symbol. That seems like a stretch for a "hidden word" category. Or maybe the RING category isn't about containing the letters R-I-N-G but about something else? Wait, what if the category is specifically "words that end in -RING"? EARRING, HERRING, STIRRING, SWEARING... but SWEARING ends in -RING? S-W-E-A-R-I-N-G. Yes, -ARING contains -RING? No, RING is R-I-N-G. In SWEARING: ...A-R-I-N-G. So yes, it contains RING. Hmm, but maybe the category is different. What if it's "___RING" where the first part is also a word? • EAR + RING = EARRING • HER + RING = HERRING • STIR + RING = STIRRING • SWEAR + RING = SWEARING (but SWEARRING isn't a thing...) Actually, the way RING is embedded: • EARRING: EAR-RING (natural split) • HERRING: HER-RING (hidden) • STIRRING: STIRR-ING or STIR-RING (hidden) • SWEARING: SWEAR-ING or SWEA-RING (hidden) If the category is "contains the hidden word RING," all four qualify. Now, if STIRRING goes with the Christmas poem group, we need a 4th for the RING group. Let me look again... Actually, could OUROBOROS work for the Christmas poem? No, that doesn't make sense. Let me reconsider. Maybe the Christmas poem group is wrong. Let me verify the poem more carefully: "'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse." CHRISTMAS ✓, HOUSE ✓, STIRRING ✓, MOUSE ✓ - all in the first two lines. This is a very strong connection. I think this is correct. So now I need to reconcile: • Christmas poem: CHRISTMAS, HOUSE, STIRRING, MOUSE • Contains RING: EARRING, HERRING, SWEARING, + ??? • Profanity: FOUR-LETTER WORDS, PROFANITY, EXPLETIVES, + ??? • ???: HISTAMINE, NECKLACE, OUROBOROS, PLEATHER VEST, MESH SHIRT Remaining after taking out the Christmas poem group and what I know: EARRING, FOUR-LETTER WORDS, HERRING, HISTAMINE, SWEARING, PROFANITY, NECKLACE, OUROBOROS, PLEATHER VEST, EXPLETIVES, MESH SHIRT I need to find the RING group's 4th member and the profanity group's 4th member. Could NECKLACE contain RING? N-E-C-K-L-A-C-E. No. HISTAMINE? H-I-S-T-A-M-I-N-E. No. OUROBOROS? O-U-R-O-B-O-R-O-S. No. PLEATHER VEST? P-L-E-A-T-H-E-R-V-E-S-T. No. MESH SHIRT? M-E-S-H-S-H-I-R-T. No. Hmm, only 3 words contain RING (besides STIRRING): EARRING, HERRING, SWEARING. Unless I'm wrong about the Christmas poem group and STIRRING should be in the RING group. Wait, let me reconsider. What if the Christmas group is different? What if it's CHRISTMAS, HOUSE, MOUSE + something else? What else is in the poem? "VISIONS of sugarplums," "STOCKINGS," "CHIMNEY," "REINDEER," "SLEIGH"... None of those are in our word list. Hmm, but what about MYSTERY? "TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS" - no mystery there. What if the group is "Night Before ___"? Night before Christmas... can't think of others. Or "___ Eve"? Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve... OK, let me try yet another angle. What if STIRRING is in the RING group, and the Christmas poem group doesn't exist as I imagined? Groups would be: • Contains RING: EARRING, HERRING, STIRRING, SWEARING • Profanity: FOUR-LETTER WORDS, PROFANITY, EXPLETIVES, + ??? • ???: MOUSE, MYSTERY, CHRISTMAS, HISTAMINE, NECKLACE, OUROBOROS, PLEATHER VEST, HOUSE, MESH SHIRT What 4th word goes with profanity? MYSTERY? MOUSE? None seem right. Unless... NECKLACE → "neck-LACE" and lace isn't profanity. What about "language"? PROFANITY, FOUR-LETTER WORDS, EXPLETIVES are all types of language/speech. What's a 4th? SWEARING yes, but that's in RING group... Hmm, what if MESH SHIRT is somehow... no. OUROBOROS? No. Actually, wait. What if one category is "things a punk/rocker wears" - MESH SHIRT, PLEATHER VEST, NECKLACE, EARRING? That would free up EARRING from the RING group. But then RING group only has 3: HERRING, STIRRING, SWEARING. Unless we add OUROBOROS to the RING group since an ouroboros IS a ring. The category could be "types of rings" or "ring shapes" or "things that are rings": • EARRING: a ring for your ear • HERRING: contains ring • OUROBOROS: a ring shape • STIRRING or SWEARING Hmm, this feels less clean. Let me try another approach. What if I look at this from the outfit group perspective: • Rock/punk outfit: MESH SHIRT, PLEATHER VEST, NECKLACE, EARRING Then remaining: FOUR-LETTER WORDS, HERRING, MOUSE, MYSTERY, CHRISTMAS, STIRRING, HISTAMINE, SWEARING, PROFANITY, OUROBOROS, EXPLETIVES, HOUSE • Profanity: FOUR-LETTER WORDS, SWEARING, PROFANITY, EXPLETIVES • Christmas poem: CHRISTMAS, HOUSE, STIRRING, MOUSE • Remaining: HERRING, MYSTERY, HISTAMINE, OUROBOROS Is there a connection between HERRING, MYSTERY, HISTAMINE, OUROBOROS? RED HERRING - a misleading clue (in mysteries!) MYSTERY - HISTAMINE - related to allergies, released during allergic reactions OUROBOROS - snake eating its tail Hmm, RED HERRING is a mystery term. What about the others? Actually, let me think about this differently. What if they all can be preceded by the same word? Or what if they all relate to circles/cycles? • OUROBOROS: circular symbol • MYSTERY: mystery circle? -HISTAMINE: ? • HERRING: ? What if they can all follow "RED"? • RED HERRING ✓ (misleading clue) • RED MYSTERY? No • RED HISTAMINE? No What about hidden words? • HERRING: HER, RING, ERRING • MYSTERY: MIST, MY • HISTAMINE: HIS, HIST, STAIN, AMINE, MINE • OUROBOROS: OUR, ROB, BORO, BORE Hidden pronoun? • HERring: HER • HIStamine: HIS • OURoboros: OUR • MYstery: MY Oh!! Possessive pronouns hidden at the start! • HER-ring: HER • HIS-tamine: HIS • OUR-oboros: OUR (wait, is it OUR-oboros? O-U-R-O-B-O-R-O-S. Yes!) • MY-stery: MY That's brilliant! Hidden possessive pronouns at the start of each word! So the four groups would be: 1. Hidden possessive pronouns: HERRING (HER), HISTAMINE (HIS), OUROBOROS (OUR), MYSTERY (MY) 2. Profanity synonyms: FOUR-LETTER WORDS, SWEARING, PROFANITY, EXPLETIVES 3. 'Twas the Night Before Christmas: CHRISTMAS, HOUSE, STIRRING, MOUSE 4. Outfit/accessories: MESH SHIRT, PLEATHER VEST, NECKLACE, EARRING Let me verify: • HERRING = HER + RING (starts with HER ✓) • HISTAMINE = HIS + TAMINE (starts with HIS ✓) • OUROBOROS = OUR + OBOROS (starts with OUR ✓... wait, is it? O-U-R-O-B-O-R-O-S. "OUR" = O-U-R. Yes!) • MYSTERY = MY + STERY (starts with MY ✓) This is clean! All four start with a possessive pronoun. Now let me verify the other groups: • Profanity: FOUR-LETTER WORDS, SWEARING, PROFANITY, EXPLETIVES - all mean bad/curse words ✓ • Christmas poem: CHRISTMAS, HOUSE, STIRRING, MOUSE - "'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse" ✓ • Outfit: MESH SHIRT, PLEATHER VEST, NECKLACE, EARRING - things you wear ✓ Wait, let me check if EARRING starts with a possessive pronoun... E-A-R-R-I-N-G. No possessive pronoun there. Good, it belongs to the outfit group. And the remaining words would be: MESH SHIRT, PLEATHER VEST, NECKLACE, EARRING. These are all things you might wear, perhaps at a concert or in a specific style. They could be "things Guy Fieri wears" or "punk accessories" or just "things you wear." This all fits perfectly! I'm very confident in these four groups. Let me start with the group I'm most confident about. The possessive pronouns group is clever and clean. The profanity group is also very clean. The Christmas poem group is solid. I'll start with the profanity group since it's the most straightforward: FOUR-LETTER WORDS, SWEARING, PROFANITY, EXPLETIVES. Actually, wait. Let me reconsider whether SWEARING should be in the profanity group or not. If the puzzle has a "hidden RING" category, then SWEARING (SWE-A-RING) would go there. But we established that HERRING goes in the possessive pronouns group (HER-RING), not the RING group. And STIRRING goes in the Christmas poem group. So there's no clean "contains RING" group. But EARRING also contains RING... E-A-RRING. Hmm. EARRING contains RING but goes in the outfit group. HERRING contains RING but goes in the pronouns group. STIRRING contains RING but goes in the Christmas group. SWEARING contains RING but goes in the profanity group. So the RING connection is a red herring (pun intended)! It's a trap/distractor. That's very NYT Connections-like. OK, I'm going to go with the possessive pronouns group first since it's the most uniquely identifiable: HERRING (HER), HISTAMINE (HIS), OUROBOROS (OUR), MYSTERY (MY) Actually, let me think about whether MOUSE could start with a possessive pronoun... M-O-U-S-E. No. HOUSE? H-O-U-S-E. No. CHRISTMAS? No. MESH SHIRT? ME-SH SHIRT. ME! Wait... ME is a personal pronoun, not possessive. The possessives are MY, YOUR, HIS, HER, OUR, THEIR, ITS. MESH SHIRT starts with ME... but ME isn't possessive. So that doesn't count. What about NECKLACE? No. PLEATHER VEST? No. FOUR-LETTER WORDS? No. EXPLETIVES? No. PROFANITY? No. EARRING starts with EAR... not a pronoun. CHRISTMAS starts with CHRIS... not a pronoun. HOUSE starts with HO or HOU... not a pronoun. MOUSE starts with MO or MOU... not a pronoun. STIRRING starts with STI... not a pronoun. SWEARING starts with SW... not a pronoun. OK so only HERRING, HISTAMINE, OUROBOROS, MYSTERY start with possessive pronouns. Perfect, that's exactly 4. I'm most confident about the possessive pronouns group. Let me guess that. Wait, one more check: FOUR-LETTER WORDS starts with FO... no. EXPLETIVES starts with EX... no. PROFANITY starts with PRO... no. Actually, PLEATHER VEST - does it start with a pronoun? No. OK, I'm going with: HERRING, HISTAMINE, OUROBOROS, MYSTERY

The possessive pronouns group was correct. Now let me work with the remaining 12 words: EARRING, FOUR-LETTER WORDS, MOUSE, CHRISTMAS, STIRRING, SWEARING, PROFANITY, NECKLACE, PLEATHER VEST, EXPLETIVES, HOUSE, MESH SHIRT My hypothesized groups: 1. Profanity synonyms: FOUR-LETTER WORDS, SWEARING, PROFANITY, EXPLETIVES 2. 'Twas the Night Before Christmas poem: CHRISTMAS, HOUSE, STIRRING, MOUSE 3. Things you wear/outfit: MESH SHIRT, PLEATHER VEST, NECKLACE, EARRING Let me go with the profanity group next - it's very clean and straightforward. All four are synonyms for curse words/bad language.

Remaining 8 words: EARRING, MOUSE, CHRISTMAS, STIRRING, NECKLACE, PLEATHER VEST, HOUSE, MESH SHIRT My hypothesized groups: 1. 'Twas the Night Before Christmas poem: CHRISTMAS, HOUSE, STIRRING, MOUSE - "'Twas the night before CHRISTMAS, when all through the HOUSE, not a creature was STIRRING, not even a MOUSE" 2. Things you wear/outfit: MESH SHIRT, PLEATHER VEST, NECKLACE, EARRING Let me go with the Christmas poem group.

Remaining 4 words: EARRING, NECKLACE, PLEATHER VEST, MESH SHIRT These are all things you wear - accessories/clothing items. This is the last group.

Let me analyze these 16 words and find four groups of four related words. Available words: FRY, DIVE, SCRAPER, FLYER, LARK, WING, RAM, DUCK, LINCOLN, DODGE, ROCKET, CHIP, FORD, STAR, DIP, SENATOR Let me think about potential categories: Cars/Auto brands: • LINCOLN (Lincoln cars) • DODGE (Dodge cars) • FORD (Ford cars) • RAM (Ram trucks) • LARK (Studebaker Lark) • ROCKET (Oldsmobile Rocket) • FLYER (Plymouth Flyer? Not sure) • SENATOR (Pontiac? No... Holden Senator?) NHL/Sports teams: • FLYER (Philadelphia Flyers) • STAR (Dallas Stars) • DUCK (Anaheim Ducks) • SENATOR (Ottawa Senators) • ROCKET (Houston Rockets - NBA) • WING (Detroit Red Wings) • LARK? No... SKY + ___: • SCRAPER (skyscraper) • DIVE (skydive) • LARK (skylark) • ROCKET (skyrocket) • WING? No... • FLYER? No... • STAR? No... • LARK (skylark) • LINE (skyline) • LIGHT (skylight) Wait, let me reconsider: SKY + ___ • SCRAPER → skyscraper • DIVE → skydive • LARK → skylark • ROCKET → skyrocket • LINE → skyline • LIGHT → skylight • WARD → skyward That gives me 4: SCRAPER, DIVE, LARK, ROCKET ___ + something or something + ___: CHIP + ___: Wait, let me think about "DIP" - Words that can follow "NOSE": • DIVE (nosedive) Words meaning to avoid/evade: • DODGE, DUCK, DIP, DIVE - these could all mean to avoid something! Actually, DODGE, DUCK, DIP, DIVE - this is from the movie Dodgeball! "The 5 D's of dodgeball: dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge." But there are only 4 slots... Wait, that's a famous quote. DODGE, DUCK, DIP, DIVE could be a category - all ways to avoid being hit / moves in dodgeball. SKY___: • SCRAPER (skyscraper) • LARK (skylark) • ROCKET (skyrocket) • LINE? No LINE available • DIVE (skydive) So SCRAPER, LARK, ROCKET, DIVE could all be "SKY___" words. But DIVE could also be in the dodgeball group... Let me reconsider. If DODGE, DUCK, DIP, DIVE are the dodgeball group, then SKY___ would need a 4th word besides SCRAPER, LARK, ROCKET. SKY + FLYER? No. SKY + WING? No. SKY + CHIP? No. SKY + STAR? No. Hmm, what about FRY? SKYFRY? No. Actually wait - FORD could be part of something. Let me think about Presidents: • LINCOLN (president) • FORD (president) • ... Auto brands: • LINCOLN, DODGE, FORD, RAM - all car/truck brands NHL teams: • FLYER (Flyers) • STAR (Stars) • DUCK (Ducks - Anaheim) • SENATOR (Senators - Ottawa) • WING (Red Wings - Detroit) That's 5 for NHL... Wait: FLYER, STAR, SENATOR, WING could be NHL teams (Flyers, Stars, Senators, Red Wings). DUCK is also Ducks... Hmm. Let me reconsider. If car brands are LINCOLN, DODGE, FORD, RAM, then DUCK isn't in that group. And if dodgeball moves are DUCK, DIP, DIVE, and... we need a 4th. The quote is "dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge" - so DODGE is repeated. But DODGE could be in car brands. What if the category is "ways to avoid" = DUCK, DIP, DIVE, and one more? CHIP? FRY? Actually: MICRO + CHIP = microchip, MICRO + SCRAPER? No. Let me try: SKY___ = SCRAPER, LARK, ROCKET, DIVE Car brands = LINCOLN, DODGE, FORD, RAM NHL teams = FLYER, STAR, SENATOR, WING (and DUCK) Remaining: FRY, CHIP, DIP, DUCK FRY, CHIP, DIP, DUCK - these could all relate to cooking/food! Chip (french fries = chips), Fry, Dip (sauce), Duck (the meat). Or FISH AND CHIPS... Actually: DEEP + FRY, DEEP + DIVE, DEEP + DIP... Hmm. FRY, CHIP, DIP, DUCK could be things related to food/cooking methods? Let me think: FRENCH + FRY, FRENCH + DIP, FRENCH + CHIP? No... Actually - MICRO + CHIP = microchip, MICRO + SCRAPER? No. Let me try another approach: ___ WING, ___ STAR, etc. BUFFALO: BUFFALO WING, BUFFALO CHIP... What about POKER terms: CHIP, FOLD, RAISE... Let me reconsider the groups: 1. Car brands: LINCOLN, DODGE, FORD, RAM 2. SKY___: SCRAPER, LARK, ROCKET, DIVE (skyscraper, skylark, skyrocket, skydive) 3. NHL teams: FLYER, STAR, SENATOR, WING (Flyers, Stars, Senators, Red Wings) 4. Remaining: FRY, DUCK, CHIP, DIP What connects FRY, DUCK, CHIP, DIP? • SKINNY DIP, but what about skinny fry? No... • These could all be cooking-related: fry, duck (a food), chip (potato chip), dip (a condiment) • BUFFALO: Buffalo wing... no, WING is taken. Buffalo chip? That's a thing (dried dung). Hmm, what about PHILIP J. FRY (Futurama), DUCK (as in Donald Duck), CHIP (Chip and Dale)... Actually: FRY, DUCK, CHIP, DIP could all follow "SKINNY": skinny dip... no, not skinny fry. Or precede something: FRY PAN, DIP STICK... Wait - could these all be things you do with food in hot oil? FRY, DIP, CHIP... DUCK? Not really. Let me think about this differently. FRENCH: French fry, French dip (sandwich), French... duck? French chip? Or DEEP: deep fry, deep dive, deep dip? Deep duck? No. Actually what if the food group is FRY, CHIP, DIP, WING? Fish and chips, french fry, dip (sauce), wing (chicken wing)? Then NHL would be FLYER, STAR, SENATOR, DUCK (Flyers, Stars, Senators, Ducks). Remaining: LARK, DIVE, ROCKET, SCRAPER... all can follow SKY! And car brands: LINCOLN, DODGE, FORD, RAM. Wait but then what connects FRY, CHIP, DIP, WING? Hmm, they could all be things at a party/snack table? Chips, dip, wings, fries? Or they could relate to BUFFALO: Buffalo wing, buffalo chip (that's a thing)... buffalo dip? buffalo fry? Hmm, not great. Actually - FISH: FISH FRY, FISH CHIP(S), FISH DIP... FISH WING? No. What about ___PAN: fry pan? chip pan? No... Let me reconsider. POKER: CHIP (poker chip), FOLD... COMPUTER: CHIP (computer chip)... What if it's things in CRICKET? DUCK (score of zero), CHIP (chip shot)... Or GOLF: CHIP (chip shot), EAGLE, BIRDIE... Hmm, let me go with the most confident group first. I'm very confident about: SKY + ___: SCRAPER, LARK, ROCKET, DIVE (skyscraper, skylark, skyrocket, skydive) Car brands: LINCOLN, DODGE, FORD, RAM These seem very solid. Let me also verify: • NHL: Could be FLYER, STAR, SENATOR, DUCK or FLYER, STAR, SENATOR, WING • Food/snack: Could be FRY, CHIP, DIP, WING or FRY, CHIP, DIP, DUCK If NHL = FLYER, STAR, SENATOR, DUCK: Then remaining = FRY, CHIP, DIP, WING Connection? All bar/party food: fries, chips, dip, wings ✓ That works well! If NHL = FLYER, STAR, SENATOR, WING: Then remaining = FRY, CHIP, DIP, DUCK Connection? Harder to see... duck as food, fry, chip, dip... Hmm, both could work as food. But DUCK is more clearly an NHL team (Anaheim Ducks) while WING as "Red Wings" requires adding "Red" which is a bit unusual for this game. Actually, in Connections, they often use partial team names. "WING" for Red Wings is a bit unusual. But "DUCK" for Ducks is more straightforward. Hmm, but WING is also food (chicken wing, buffalo wing). And DUCK is also food. Let me think about what connects FRY, CHIP, DIP better as a group of 4: • FRY, CHIP, DIP, WING: bar food / appetizers • FRY, CHIP, DIP, DUCK: ??? Actually, DUCK could also be a verb (to duck). DIP is also a verb. DIVE is a verb. DODGE is a verb. Wait - DUCK, DIP, DIVE, DODGE - those are the "5 D's of Dodgeball" (from the movie)! The 5th D is also dodge. So DUCK, DIP, DIVE, DODGE could be a category! If that's the case: 1. Dodgeball D's: DUCK, DIP, DIVE, DODGE 2. SKY___: needs a 4th instead of DIVE... SCRAPER, LARK, ROCKET, and... FLYER? No, skyflyer isn't a word. STAR? No. WING? No. LINE? Not available. WARD? Not available. Hmm, if DIVE is in the dodgeball group, I need another SKY word. There isn't one obviously. So either: • DIVE is in SKY group (skydive) and DODGE is in car group • DIVE is in dodgeball group and... SKY group is broken I think DIVE goes with SKY. And DODGE goes with cars. Let me settle on: 1. SKY___: SCRAPER, LARK, ROCKET, DIVE 2. Car brands: LINCOLN, DODGE, FORD, RAM 3. NHL teams: FLYER, STAR, SENATOR, DUCK (Flyers, Stars, Senators, Ducks) 4. Bar food/snacks: FRY, CHIP, DIP, WING Actually wait - for #4, what's the actual category name? Fries, chips, dip, and wings are all things you'd find at a sports bar or party. They're all snack foods / appetizer foods. Or could they all follow a common word? BANANA: banana chip, banana split... no. POTATO: potato chip, potato fry? Hmm. Or precede a word: FRY PAN, CHIP SHOT... no common word. MICRO: microchip... that's it. Let me just go with the group I'm most confident about first. I'm most confident about SKY___: SCRAPER, LARK, ROCKET, DIVE. Let me start there. Actually, I'm also very confident about car brands: LINCOLN, DODGE, FORD, RAM. Let me go with SKY___ first since it's very clean.

The SKY___ group is confirmed. Now let me work with the remaining 12 words: FRY, FLYER, WING, RAM, DUCK, LINCOLN, DODGE, CHIP, FORD, STAR, DIP, SENATOR My remaining hypotheses: 1. Car brands: LINCOLN, DODGE, FORD, RAM — all major car/truck brands 2. NHL teams: FLYER (Flyers), STAR (Stars), SENATOR (Senators), DUCK (Ducks) 3. Bar food/snacks: FRY, CHIP, DIP, WING — all common appetizer/snack foods I'm very confident about car brands. Let me go with that.

Remaining 8 words: FRY, FLYER, WING, DUCK, CHIP, STAR, DIP, SENATOR My hypotheses: 1. NHL teams: FLYER (Flyers), STAR (Stars), SENATOR (Senators), DUCK (Ducks) 2. Bar food/snacks: FRY, CHIP, DIP, WING — fries, chips, dip, wings Both groups look very clean. Let me go with NHL teams.

Remaining 4 words: FRY, WING, CHIP, DIP These are all snack/bar foods - fries, wings, chips, dip.

Let me analyze these 16 words and find four groups of 4 related words. Available words: FLIPPER, TENDER, TRIFLE, POPPER, ARM, KETTLE, WING, SWEET, FIN, STOVETOP, WARM, THROW, FIDDLE, FRITTER, KIND, MICROWAVE Let me think about possible categories: 1. Ways to make popcorn: STOVETOP, MICROWAVE, KETTLE, ... hmm, KETTLE corn is a thing. What about AIR POPPER? POPPER could relate to popcorn. - STOVETOP popcorn, MICROWAVE popcorn, KETTLE corn, AIR POPPER... but AIR isn't here. 2. ___ corn: KETTLE corn, POPPER corn (popcorn), SWEET corn, ... hmm. CANDY corn? 3. Words meaning "waste time" or "do nothing significant": TRIFLE, FIDDLE, FRITTER (fritter away), ... 4. Body parts / appendages: ARM, WING, FIN, FLIPPER - these are all limbs/appendages used for movement! 5. ___hearted: WARM-hearted, KIND-hearted, TENDER-hearted, SWEET-hearted? No... HALF-hearted? 6. ___hearted: WARM, KIND, TENDER, ... FAINT? COLD? Let me think... - WARMhearted, KINDhearted, TENDERhearted, WHOLEhearted... 7. ___ corn: KETTLE corn, POPCORN (POPPER?), SWEET corn, ... CANDY corn? Wait, let me reconsider. Let me think about what connects groups of 4. Appendages for movement: ARM, WING, FIN, FLIPPER - all limbs/appendages. This seems very strong. ___hearted: WARM, KIND, TENDER, SWEET? - WARMhearted, KINDhearted, TENDERhearted, SWEEThearted... Is "sweethearted" a word? "Sweetheart" is, but "sweet-hearted" might not be standard. Let me think of alternatives. • HALF-hearted... FAINT-hearted... WHOLE-hearted... Actually: WARM-hearted, KIND-hearted, TENDER-hearted, and... SOFT-hearted? LIGHT-hearted? Hmm, what about ___-hearted with the remaining words? COLD? No... Let me reconsider. Maybe it's just "___heart" or something else. Waste/squander time: TRIFLE (trifle with), FIDDLE (fiddle around), FRITTER (fritter away), ... what's the 4th? THROW (throw away)? Popcorn types: STOVETOP, MICROWAVE, KETTLE, ... Wait - POPCORN! What if the category is "___ popcorn" or "popcorn ___"? • KETTLE corn, STOVETOP popcorn, MICROWAVE popcorn... and POPPER (corn popper)? Actually, let me reconsider the "waste time" category: TRIFLE, FIDDLE, FRITTER, and maybe THROW? You can "throw away" time. Or MICROWAVE? No. Hmm, what about "___ corn"? KETTLE corn, SWEET corn, POPPER corn (popcorn)... Let me think about this differently. ___ corn: KETTLE, SWEET, POPPER (pop + corn), ... CANDY? No. Actually, maybe the popcorn connection is about ways to pop popcorn: STOVETOP, MICROWAVE, KETTLE, AIR... but AIR isn't here. Let me reconsider. What if the groups are: 1. Appendages: ARM, WING, FIN, FLIPPER 2. ___-hearted: WARM, KIND, TENDER, SWEET (sweet-hearted does exist as an adjective) 3. Waste/squander: TRIFLE, FIDDLE, FRITTER, THROW (throw away) 4. ___ corn: STOVETOP, MICROWAVE, KETTLE, POPPER (popcorn) Wait, "STOVETOP corn" isn't really a thing. But STOVETOP popcorn is. Hmm. Actually, for group 4: types of popcorn preparation: STOVETOP, MICROWAVE, KETTLE, and... what? POPPER is a corn popper. And for group 3: words meaning to waste/squander: TRIFLE (with), FIDDLE (around), FRITTER (away), and... hmm. Let me reconsider. THROW could be "throw a blanket" - like a throw blanket. MICROWAVE, STOVETOP, POPPER... What about "THROW, POPPER, STOVETOP, MICROWAVE" - ways to make popcorn? You can throw popcorn? No. Let me try: POPPER could go with corn (popcorn). Hmm, what if the categories are: 1. ARM, WING, FIN, FLIPPER (appendages) 2. WARM, KIND, TENDER, SWEET (___-hearted) 3. TRIFLE, FIDDLE, FRITTER, POPPER (not waste time...) Wait - FIDDLE, TRIFLE, FRITTER all can mean "to waste time." What's the 4th? THROW? Not really waste time. Could STOVETOP be in this category? No. MICROWAVE? No. Let me think... synonyms for "waste/squander": trifle, fiddle, fritter... dawdle? dally? What about: TRIFLE, FIDDLE, FRITTER + one more that means "waste"? Hmm, let me think about other possible groupings for the remaining words: TRIFLE, POPPER, STOVETOP, THROW, FIDDLE, FRITTER, KETTLE, MICROWAVE. Musical instruments: FIDDLE, KETTLE (drum), ... ___ drum: KETTLE drum, STOVETOP? No. Things in a kitchen: STOVETOP, MICROWAVE, KETTLE, ... POPPER? Wait! Kitchen appliances/equipment: STOVETOP, MICROWAVE, KETTLE, POPPER - these are all things you find in a kitchen! Then the remaining group would be: TRIFLE, THROW, FIDDLE, FRITTER What do TRIFLE, THROW, FIDDLE, and FRITTER have in common? • TRIFLE: a dessert, or to waste time • THROW: to toss • FIDDLE: a violin, or to tinker • FRITTER: a fried food, or to waste They all can mean "to waste" or "not take seriously"? • TRIFLE with = treat without seriousness • FIDDLE with = tinker idly • FRITTER away = waste • THROW away = waste/discard All can precede "away"? TRIFLE away? Hmm, not common. FIDDLE away? Kind of. FRITTER away? Yes. THROW away? Yes. Or they all mean "to waste/squander time"? TRIFLE, FIDDLE, FRITTER all mean this. THROW doesn't quite fit. Hmm, let me reconsider. Maybe the kitchen appliances group is wrong. What if it's "___ popcorn": STOVETOP popcorn, MICROWAVE popcorn, KETTLE popcorn (kettle corn)... and what's the 4th? Actually, maybe the 4th isn't about popcorn at all. Let me think about what other grouping could work. THROW could be a "throw pillow" or "throw blanket." Let me reconsider everything: What if the connection is "things that can precede 'blanket'"? No, that doesn't work well. Let me think about TRIFLE, THROW, FIDDLE, FRITTER again. • English TRIFLE (dessert) • THROW (blanket) • FIDDLE (instrument) • FRITTER (food) These don't seem obviously connected unless... they all start with similar sounds? No. Could they all mean "a small/insignificant amount"? A TRIFLE = a small amount. Or: FIDDLE, TRIFLE, FRITTER, THROW - can they all follow a common word? Let me try: ___ AWAY: THROW away, FRITTER away, FIDDLE away, TRIFLE away? Hmm, "trifle away" is less common but possible. "Fiddle away" - yes, you can fiddle away time. Actually, I think "___ away" might work: • THROW away ✓ • FRITTER away ✓ • FIDDLE away ✓ (fiddle away time) • TRIFLE away ✓ (less common but exists) So the four groups might be: 1. Appendages: ARM, WING, FIN, FLIPPER 2. ___-hearted: WARM, KIND, TENDER, SWEET 3. ___ away (waste): TRIFLE, THROW, FIDDLE, FRITTER 4. Kitchen items for heating: STOVETOP, MICROWAVE, KETTLE, POPPER I'm most confident about group 1 (appendages). Let me start there. Actually wait - SWEET could also go in the kitchen group (sweet popper? no). And TENDER could be a body-related word (tender spot). Let me make sure my groupings are right. ARM - appendage ✓ WING - appendage ✓ (also chicken wing) FIN - appendage ✓ (also slang for $5) FLIPPER - appendage ✓ (also a spatula) These all are definitely appendages/limbs. Very confident. Let me go with the appendages first.

Now with ARM, WING, FIN, FLIPPER removed, the remaining words are: TENDER, TRIFLE, POPPER, KETTLE, SWEET, STOVETOP, WARM, THROW, FIDDLE, FRITTER, KIND, MICROWAVE My previous analysis suggested: 1. ___-hearted: WARM, KIND, TENDER, SWEET 2. ___ away (to waste/squander): TRIFLE, THROW, FIDDLE, FRITTER 3. Kitchen heating items: STOVETOP, MICROWAVE, KETTLE, POPPER Let me verify each: ___-hearted: • WARM-hearted ✓ • KIND-hearted ✓ • TENDER-hearted ✓ • SWEET-hearted ✓ (less common but exists as "sweet-hearted") Hmm, actually "sweethearted" - is that a word? "Sweetheart" is definitely a word, but "sweet-hearted"? Let me think... Yes, "sweet-hearted" is used as an adjective. ___ away: • TRIFLE away ✓ (to trifle away time) • THROW away ✓ • FIDDLE away ✓ (fiddle away time) • FRITTER away ✓ Kitchen items: • STOVETOP ✓ • MICROWAVE ✓ • KETTLE ✓ • POPPER ✓ (like a popcorn popper) Actually, wait. Let me reconsider. Could any of these words swap between groups? TENDER - could mean a type of offer/money? SWEET - could be a dessert? WARM - could be a cooking-related term? Actually, could the kitchen group be about ways to make popcorn? STOVETOP popcorn, MICROWAVE popcorn, KETTLE corn, and POPPER (air popper)? That's another way to frame it, but the grouping stays the same. Let me think if THROW could be in another group... THROW could relate to pottery (throwing a pot on a wheel)? No, that doesn't fit. I think the ___-hearted group is very strong. Let me go with that. Actually, let me reconsider whether TENDER could be in the "waste" group. "Tender away"? No, that doesn't work. Could MICROWAVE be in a different group? MICROWAVE away? No. I'm confident in the ___-hearted group. Let me go with WARM, KIND, TENDER, SWEET.

Remaining words: TRIFLE, POPPER, KETTLE, STOVETOP, THROW, FIDDLE, FRITTER, MICROWAVE My two remaining groups: 1. ___ away (to waste/squander): TRIFLE, THROW, FIDDLE, FRITTER 2. Kitchen heating/popcorn items: STOVETOP, MICROWAVE, KETTLE, POPPER Let me verify: • THROW away ✓ • FRITTER away ✓ • FIDDLE away ✓ • TRIFLE away ✓ • STOVETOP popcorn ✓ • MICROWAVE popcorn ✓ • KETTLE corn ✓ • POPPER (popcorn popper) ✓ Both groups seem solid. Let me go with the "___ away" group. Actually, wait. Could the popcorn group be "___ corn"? KETTLE corn, POPCORN (POPPER?), STOVETOP... hmm, no. Maybe the connection for the second group is just "ways to make popcorn" or "popcorn ___" / "___ popcorn." Let me go with ___ away first.

Remaining words: POPPER, KETTLE, STOVETOP, MICROWAVE These must be the final group - all related to popcorn/ways to make popcorn: • STOVETOP popcorn • MICROWAVE popcorn • KETTLE corn • POPPER (popcorn popper)

Let me analyze these 16 words and try to find four groups of four related words. Words: LOAF, BAR, COUNTER, ALE, EEK, QUASH, HIVE, BOOTH, TAP, LOUNGE, SWIPE, PINCH, CHILL, SCROLL, VEG, TABLE Let me think about possible categories: Things you do on a phone/tablet: • TAP, SWIPE, SCROLL, PINCH - these are all touchscreen gestures! That seems very strong. Places to drink / parts of a pub/bar: • BAR, BOOTH, TAP, COUNTER, LOUNGE - too many, need to narrow down • Actually TAP is in the phone gestures group. So BAR, BOOTH, COUNTER, LOUNGE could be places in a pub/restaurant where you sit or areas. Words meaning to relax/do nothing: • LOAF, VEG, CHILL, LOUNGE - all mean to be lazy/relax • But LOUNGE is also a pub area... Let me think about this. Words meaning to suppress/squash: • QUASH, TABLE (to table something = to shelve it), SCOTCH... hmm • EEK - that's an exclamation • SQUASH = QUASH Wait, let me reconsider. Let me think about "___ bar" or "bar ___" or other compound words. Let me think about BEE-related words: • HIVE (bee hive), SWIPE... no Let me reconsider categories: Phone gestures: TAP, SWIPE, SCROLL, PINCH ✓ Relax/laze about: LOAF, VEG, CHILL, LOUNGE ✓ Parts of a pub/bar setting: BAR, BOOTH, COUNTER, TABLE - these are all places where you might sit/stand in a restaurant or pub Remaining: ALE, EEK, QUASH, HIVE • What connects ALE, EEK, QUASH, HIVE? • SQU + ASH = SQUASH, but that's just QUASH • ALE → BALE? EEK → BEEK? HIVE → ... • Wait: B + ALE = BALE, B + EEK = BEEK (not a word), B + HIVE = ... no • Let me think differently. • ALE, EEK, QUASH, HIVE... • Could these all have a silent letter added? Or be parts of longer words? • SQUASH contains QUASH • BEEHIVE contains HIVE • SHEEK? CREEK? REEK? PEEK? • ALE → TALE, BALE, GALE, MALE, PALE, SALE, WHALE • EEK → GEEK, LEEK, MEEK, PEEK, REEK, SEEK, WEEK • QUASH → SQUASH • HIVE → CHIVE, SHIVE Hmm, what if you add a letter or letters to the front? • S + QUASH = SQUASH • S + HIVE = ... no • S + CROLL = SCROLL... wait, that's already a word What about "SQU" words: SQUASH (QUASH), SQUALE? no... Let me think about this differently. What if they can all be preceded by the same word? • BEE + HIVE = BEEHIVE • BEE... what about the others? Or what about hidden words? • ALE: contains ALE • EEK: contains EEK • QUASH: contains... • HIVE: contains HIVE Words containing these: STALE, CREEK, SQUASH, ARCHIVE Hmm, let me try another approach. What connects ALE, EEK, QUASH, HIVE? Could they all follow or precede a common word? • GINGER + ALE, but GINGER + EEK? No. Maybe they all sound like exclamations or expressions? EEK is an exclamation. ALE... no. Wait - what if they're all things that become new words with a letter/prefix? • QUASH → SQUASH (vegetable) • ALE → KALE (vegetable) • HIVE → CHIVE (vegetable) • EEK → LEEK (vegetable) YES! That's brilliant! Add a letter to get a vegetable: • K + ALE = KALE • L + EEK = LEEK • SQU + ASH... no wait, CH + IVE = CHIVE, SQU + ASH = SQUASH And VEG is in the "relax" category but also means vegetable... interesting double meaning. So the hidden vegetable group: ALE (KALE), EEK (LEEK), QUASH (SQUASH), HIVE (CHIVE) Let me start with the phone gestures since I'm most confident: TAP, SWIPE, SCROLL, PINCH

Remaining words: LOAF, BAR, COUNTER, ALE, EEK, QUASH, HIVE, BOOTH, LOUNGE, CHILL, VEG, TABLE Now let me confirm my other hypotheses: Vegetables hidden with an added letter: • ALE → KALE (K + ALE) • EEK → LEEK (L + EEK) • QUASH → SQUASH (SQU + ASH... wait, no. S + QUASH = SQUASH) • HIVE → CHIVE (CH + IVE) All become vegetables when you add letter(s) to the front. That's a strong group. Relax/laze about: LOAF, VEG, CHILL, LOUNGE - all mean to be idle/lazy Pub/restaurant features: BAR, BOOTH, COUNTER, TABLE - all places where you sit or stand in a restaurant/pub Wait, but COUNTER could also mean "to counter" something. And TABLE could mean "to table" something. Let me make sure the groupings work. If LOUNGE is in the "relax" group, then pub features would be: BAR, BOOTH, COUNTER, TABLE. That works perfectly - these are all places/furniture in a bar or restaurant. And LOAF, VEG, CHILL, LOUNGE all mean to relax/do nothing. Let me go with the vegetables group next since it's clever and I'm confident.

Remaining words: LOAF, BAR, COUNTER, BOOTH, LOUNGE, CHILL, VEG, TABLE Relax/laze about: LOAF, VEG, CHILL, LOUNGE - all mean to be idle/lazy/relax Pub/restaurant features: BAR, BOOTH, COUNTER, TABLE - all places/furniture in a bar or restaurant Both groups seem very clear. Let me go with either one.

The last four remaining words are: BAR, COUNTER, BOOTH, TABLE These are all places/features in a bar or restaurant.

Let me analyze these 16 words and find four groups of 4. Available words: MARTIAN, SPLIT, GOOD SHEPHERD, THEATER, LEFT, CUP, RAINMAKER, SHAKE, DEPARTED, GREEK/ROMAN GOD, CONE, SPACECRAFT, FICTIONAL BOXER, BLUE, LIBERAL, PROGRESSIVE Let me think about what connects these words. First, I notice some words that could relate to Matt Damon movies: • MARTIAN (The Martian) • GOOD SHEPHERD (The Good Shepherd) • RAINMAKER (The Rainmaker) • DEPARTED (The Departed) That's exactly 4! These are all Matt Damon movies. Now let me think about the remaining 12: SPLIT, THEATER, LEFT, CUP, SHAKE, GREEK/ROMAN GOD, CONE, SPACECRAFT, FICTIONAL BOXER, BLUE, LIBERAL, PROGRESSIVE Words that could mean "liberal" or "left-leaning": • LEFT • LIBERAL • PROGRESSIVE • BLUE (blue states = Democratic/liberal) That's 4! These could all mean politically left/liberal. Remaining 8: SPLIT, THEATER, CUP, SHAKE, GREEK/ROMAN GOD, CONE, SPACECRAFT, FICTIONAL BOXER Things that can follow "banana": • SPLIT (banana split) • SHAKE (banana shake? maybe not the best) • CUP (banana cup? hmm) Things that can follow "ice cream": • SPLIT • CONE (ice cream cone) • CUP (ice cream cup) • SHAKE (milkshake... ice cream shake?) • THEATER (no) Wait, let me think about what these could be descriptions of: • SPLIT, THEATER, CUP, SHAKE, GREEK/ROMAN GOD, CONE, SPACECRAFT, FICTIONAL BOXER What if these are all answers to trivia clues? Like "___ is a ___": • MERCURY: GREEK/ROMAN GOD, SPACECRAFT (Mercury program), ... • APOLLO: GREEK/ROMAN GOD, SPACECRAFT, FICTIONAL BOXER (Apollo Creed), THEATER (Apollo Theater)! So APOLLO could connect: GREEK/ROMAN GOD, SPACECRAFT, FICTIONAL BOXER, THEATER That leaves: SPLIT, CUP, SHAKE, CONE These could all follow "banana": • Banana split • Banana cup (hmm, not common) • Banana shake • Banana cone? Or precede/follow "ice cream": • Ice cream cone • Ice cream cup • Ice cream shake? • Ice cream split? Not really. Wait - things at an ice cream shop: SPLIT, CUP, SHAKE, CONE. These are all ways to serve ice cream! Actually, let me reconsider. SPLIT, CUP, SHAKE, CONE - these could all be ways to get ice cream. A sundae cup, a cone, a milkshake, a banana split. Yes, these are all ice cream serving vessels/formats. Let me verify my four groups: 1. Matt Damon movies: MARTIAN, GOOD SHEPHERD, RAINMAKER, DEPARTED 2. Politically liberal synonyms: LEFT, LIBERAL, PROGRESSIVE, BLUE 3. Things APOLLO is: GREEK/ROMAN GOD, SPACECRAFT, FICTIONAL BOXER, THEATER 4. Ice cream servings: SPLIT, CUP, SHAKE, CONE This all checks out perfectly! Each group has exactly 4 words. I'm most confident about the APOLLO group and the political group. Let me start with the one I'm most sure about. Actually, let me start with Matt Damon movies since that's very clean - The Martian, The Good Shepherd, The Rainmaker, The Departed. Wait, was Matt Damon in The Rainmaker? Let me think... The Rainmaker (1997) - yes, Matt Damon starred in it! Let me go with the APOLLO connection since it's very specific and clean: • Apollo Theater • Apollo (spacecraft program) • Apollo Creed (fictional boxer from Rocky) • Apollo (Greek/Roman god) I'll start with this one.

Now I have 12 remaining words: MARTIAN, SPLIT, GOOD SHEPHERD, LEFT, CUP, RAINMAKER, SHAKE, DEPARTED, CONE, BLUE, LIBERAL, PROGRESSIVE My earlier analysis: 1. Matt Damon movies: MARTIAN, GOOD SHEPHERD, RAINMAKER, DEPARTED 2. Politically liberal synonyms: LEFT, LIBERAL, PROGRESSIVE, BLUE 3. Ice cream servings: SPLIT, CUP, SHAKE, CONE Let me go with the one I'm most confident about. All three groups look very solid. Matt Damon movies: • The Martian (2015) ✓ • The Good Shepherd (2006) ✓ • The Rainmaker (1997) ✓ • The Departed (2006) ✓ Political left: • LEFT ✓ • LIBERAL ✓ • PROGRESSIVE ✓ • BLUE ✓ Ice cream: • SPLIT (banana split) ✓ • CUP ✓ • SHAKE (milkshake) ✓ • CONE ✓ All three are very clean. Let me go with the political group.

Remaining 8 words: MARTIAN, SPLIT, GOOD SHEPHERD, CUP, RAINMAKER, SHAKE, DEPARTED, CONE My two remaining groups: 1. Matt Damon movies: MARTIAN, GOOD SHEPHERD, RAINMAKER, DEPARTED 2. Ice cream servings: SPLIT, CUP, SHAKE, CONE Both are very clean. Let me go with Matt Damon movies.

The remaining four words are: SPLIT, CUP, SHAKE, CONE These are all ways to serve ice cream.

Let me analyze these 16 words and try to find four groups of four related words. Available words: READ, SPECTER, BURST, BROKE, SPIRIT, CHORAL, JAZZ, WIGHT, FORECAST, CALL, AMERICANA, DIVINE, BLEW, SPLIT, RAP, SHADE Let me think about potential categories: 1. Ghost/Phantom synonyms: SPECTER, SPIRIT, WIGHT, SHADE - these are all words that can mean ghost or apparition. That seems very strong. 2. Music genres: JAZZ, RAP, AMERICANA, CHORAL - these are all types/genres of music. Wait, CHORAL is more of an adjective describing music. But "choral music" is a genre. Let me think... JAZZ, RAP, AMERICANA are definitely genres. What about the fourth? BLUES would be a genre but we have BLEW. Could there be a hidden pattern? 3. Past tense of "blow": BLEW. Hmm. 4. Homophones or past tenses: BROKE (break), BURST (burst), BLEW (blow), SPLIT (split), READ (read) - these could all be past tenses of words. 5. ___ out: BURST out, BROKE out, BLEW out, SPLIT out? READ out, CALL out... Hmm. Let me reconsider. Let me think about words that can follow or precede a common word. ___ music: JAZZ music? No, that's not a strong pattern. Words meaning "to predict/foretell": FORECAST, DIVINE, READ, CALL - these can all mean to predict or foretell something. DIVINE (to divine the future), READ (read the future), CALL (call the outcome), FORECAST (forecast the weather). That's a strong group! So if FORECAST, DIVINE, READ, CALL are "predict/foretell" words, then... Ghost synonyms: SPECTER, SPIRIT, WIGHT, SHADE Music genres: JAZZ, RAP, AMERICANA, CHORAL Remaining: BURST, BROKE, BLEW, SPLIT - these could all mean "went quickly" or... they all can mean variations of breaking/exploding. Or... past tenses? BURST (past of burst), BROKE (past of break), BLEW (past of blow), SPLIT (past of split). Actually, BURST, BROKE, BLEW, SPLIT can all precede or follow something... Let me think... BROKE, BURST, BLEW, SPLIT - these can all be followed by "up"? • Broke up ✓ • Burst up? Not common • Blew up ✓ • Split up ✓ Or they could all mean "left" in slang: "I split", "I burst out", "I blew" (as in left quickly), "I broke out"... Actually, all four can mean "left quickly" in informal usage: • BLEW (blew out of there) • SPLIT (split the scene) • BROKE (broke out) • BURST (burst out) Or maybe they all relate to something else. Let me reconsider. BURST, BROKE, BLEW, SPLIT - could all be slang for "had no money"? BROKE means penniless. BURST/BUST means broke. BLEW means spent all money. SPLIT... not really. Wait - BURST, BROKE, BLEW, SPLIT could all be past tenses where the action involves some kind of sudden rupture/departure. Or they could all collocate with "open": burst open, broke open, blew open, split open! That's really strong! So my four groups: 1. Ghost synonyms: SPECTER, SPIRIT, WIGHT, SHADE 2. Predict/foretell: FORECAST, DIVINE, READ, CALL 3. ___ open: BURST, BROKE, BLEW, SPLIT 4. Music genres: JAZZ, RAP, AMERICANA, CHORAL I'm most confident in the ghost synonyms. Let me start there. Actually, let me start with the one I'm most confident about. Ghost synonyms seem very strong: SPECTER, SPIRIT, WIGHT, SHADE. Music genres also seem strong: JAZZ, RAP, AMERICANA, CHORAL. The "predict" group: FORECAST, DIVINE, READ, CALL - all can mean to predict. And "___ open": BURST open, BROKE open, BLEW open, SPLIT open. I'll start with ghost synonyms as I'm very confident.

Remaining words: READ, BURST, BROKE, CHORAL, JAZZ, FORECAST, CALL, AMERICANA, DIVINE, BLEW, SPLIT, RAP, SHADE Wait, SHADE was already used. Let me recount. Remaining words: READ, BURST, BROKE, CHORAL, JAZZ, FORECAST, CALL, AMERICANA, DIVINE, BLEW, SPLIT, RAP My three remaining proposed groups: 1. Predict/foretell: FORECAST, DIVINE, READ, CALL 2. ___ open: BURST, BROKE, BLEW, SPLIT 3. Music genres: JAZZ, RAP, AMERICANA, CHORAL All three seem very strong. Let me go with the "predict" group next. FORECAST (predict), DIVINE (to divine = to foretell), READ (read the future, read palms), CALL (call it, call the outcome) Actually, let me also verify "___ open": BURST open ✓, BROKE open ✓, BLEW open ✓, SPLIT open ✓. All very natural. And music genres: JAZZ ✓, RAP ✓, AMERICANA ✓, CHORAL ✓ (choral music is a genre). I'll go with music genres since that's very straightforward.

Remaining words: READ, BURST, BROKE, FORECAST, CALL, DIVINE, BLEW, SPLIT, RAP Wait, RAP was already used. Let me recount. Remaining words: READ, BURST, BROKE, FORECAST, CALL, DIVINE, BLEW, SPLIT My two remaining proposed groups: 1. Predict/foretell: FORECAST, DIVINE, READ, CALL 2. ___ open: BURST, BROKE, BLEW, SPLIT Both seem very strong. Let me go with "predict/foretell."

Remaining words: BURST, BROKE, BLEW, SPLIT These all go with "open": burst open, broke open, blew open, split open.

Let me analyze these 16 words and find 4 groups of 4 related words. Available words: FIDGET, SCORE, TRAIL, MASCARA, CLIP, BLUSH, SWEAT, TIGER, NOSE, TOWEL, GRADE, PACE, STOCKINGS, RANK, DYE, RATE Let me think about possible categories: 1. Things that RUN: MASCARA (mascara runs), NOSE (nose runs), STOCKINGS (stockings run), DYE (dye runs), TIGER (... not sure), TRAIL (trail runs?) - Actually "run" can follow or precede these? Let me think... - MASCARA can run, NOSE can run, STOCKINGS can run, DYE can run - these all "run"! That's a strong group of 4. 2. Synonyms for RANK/EVALUATE: SCORE, GRADE, RANK, RATE - these are all ways to evaluate/rank something. 3. Things associated with SWEAT/nervousness: FIDGET, SWEAT, TOWEL, PACE - things you do when nervous? FIDGET (nervous habit), SWEAT (nervous sweating), PACE (pace back and forth when nervous), TOWEL (throw in the towel?) - Wait, let me reconsider. FIDGET, SWEAT, PACE, BLUSH could all be signs of nervousness. 4. ___ something or something ___: - CLIP: could be many things - TRAIL: trail mix, trail blazer - TIGER: tiger lily, tiger shark - TOWEL: towel rack Let me reconsider groupings: Signs of nervousness: FIDGET, SWEAT, BLUSH, PACE - these are all physical reactions to nervousness/anxiety. That's a strong group! Things that run: MASCARA, NOSE, STOCKINGS, DYE - all things that "run." Strong group! Ranking/evaluating: SCORE, GRADE, RANK, RATE - synonyms for evaluating. Strong group! That leaves: FIDGET, TRAIL, CLIP, TIGER, TOWEL, and one more... Wait, let me recount. 16 words, 4 groups of 4. Group 1 (Nervousness): FIDGET, SWEAT, BLUSH, PACE Group 2 (Things that run): MASCARA, NOSE, STOCKINGS, DYE Group 3 (Evaluate): SCORE, GRADE, RANK, RATE Group 4 (Remaining): TRAIL, CLIP, TIGER, TOWEL What connects TRAIL, CLIP, TIGER, TOWEL? • Could they all follow a word? PAPER trail, paper clip, paper tiger, paper towel! Yes! PAPER ___! That's perfect! All four groups make sense: 1. PAPER ___: TRAIL, CLIP, TIGER, TOWEL 2. Things that run: MASCARA, NOSE, STOCKINGS, DYE 3. Evaluate/rank: SCORE, GRADE, RANK, RATE 4. Signs of nervousness: FIDGET, SWEAT, BLUSH, PACE I'm most confident about the PAPER ___ group and the EVALUATE group. Let me start with the one I'm most sure about. SCORE, GRADE, RANK, RATE - all mean to evaluate. Very confident. PAPER + TRAIL, CLIP, TIGER, TOWEL - very confident too. Let me start with PAPER ___ since it's the most distinctive category.

Remaining words: FIDGET, SCORE, MASCARA, BLUSH, SWEAT, NOSE, GRADE, PACE, STOCKINGS, RANK, DYE, RATE My three remaining groups: 1. Evaluate/rank: SCORE, GRADE, RANK, RATE 2. Things that run: MASCARA, NOSE, STOCKINGS, DYE 3. Signs of nervousness: FIDGET, SWEAT, BLUSH, PACE All three groups look very solid. Let me go with the evaluate group next.

Remaining words: FIDGET, MASCARA, BLUSH, SWEAT, NOSE, PACE, STOCKINGS, DYE My two remaining groups: 1. Things that run: MASCARA, NOSE, STOCKINGS, DYE 2. Signs of nervousness: FIDGET, SWEAT, BLUSH, PACE

Last group: FIDGET, SWEAT, BLUSH, PACE - signs of nervousness.

Let me analyze these 16 words and find four groups of four. Available words: SINGLE, ZEST, JACK, SONG, FREE, RAM, TANG, HAN, MING, SOLO, PUNCH, BUCK, ZING, BILLY, KICK, STAG Let me think about potential categories: 1. Words meaning "alone/individual": SINGLE, SOLO, FREE, STAG - these can all describe going alone (e.g., "stag" at a party, "solo," "single," "free" as in unattached) 2. Male animals: RAM (male sheep), BUCK (male deer), BILLY (male goat), JACK (male donkey), STAG (male deer)... wait, that's 5. Let me reconsider. BUCK and STAG are both male deer. Hmm. - RAM = male sheep - BUCK = male deer - BILLY = male goat - JACK = male donkey - STAG = male deer That's 5 candidates for male animals. But we need exactly 4. Maybe STAG goes elsewhere or BUCK goes elsewhere. 3. Chinese dynasties: HAN, MING, SONG, TANG - yes! These are all Chinese dynasties. 4. Words meaning "zesty/exciting flavor or energy": ZEST, TANG, PUNCH, ZING, KICK - these all mean a sharp/exciting quality. That's 5 too. But TANG could be a Chinese dynasty. So let me reconsider: • Chinese dynasties: HAN, MING, SONG, TANG ✓ (4 words) • Words meaning sharpness/excitement: ZEST, PUNCH, ZING, KICK ✓ (4 words) • Male animals: RAM, BUCK, BILLY, JACK or STAG (need exactly 4) • Going alone/unaccompanied: SINGLE, SOLO, FREE, STAG ✓ (4 words) So male animals would be: RAM, BUCK, BILLY, JACK ✓ (4 words) Let me verify: • Group 1 (Chinese dynasties): HAN, MING, SONG, TANG • Group 2 (Sharpness/punch/excitement): ZEST, PUNCH, ZING, KICK • Group 3 (Male animals): RAM, BUCK, BILLY, JACK • Group 4 (Alone/unattached): SINGLE, SOLO, FREE, STAG This accounts for all 16 words perfectly! Let me start with the one I'm most confident about. Chinese dynasties: HAN, MING, SONG, TANG - very confident.

Remaining words: SINGLE, ZEST, JACK, FREE, RAM, SOLO, PUNCH, BUCK, ZING, BILLY, KICK, STAG My previous analysis: • Group 2 (Sharpness/punch/excitement): ZEST, PUNCH, ZING, KICK • Group 3 (Male animals): RAM, BUCK, BILLY, JACK • Group 4 (Alone/unattached): SINGLE, SOLO, FREE, STAG All three groups look very clean. Let me go with male animals next. • RAM = male sheep • BUCK = male deer • BILLY = male goat (billy goat) • JACK = male donkey (jackass) Very confident about this.

Remaining words: SINGLE, ZEST, FREE, SOLO, PUNCH, ZING, KICK, STAG My previous analysis: • Group: Sharpness/excitement: ZEST, PUNCH, ZING, KICK • Group: Alone/unattached: SINGLE, SOLO, FREE, STAG Both groups look very clean. Let me go with either one. Words meaning "alone/unaccompanied": SINGLE, SOLO, FREE, STAG • Single = unattached/alone • Solo = alone • Free = unattached/free agent • Stag = going stag (alone, without a date) Words meaning "liveliness/sharp quality": ZEST, PUNCH, ZING, KICK • All mean a sharp, exciting quality Both are very clear. I'll go with the "alone" group.

Remaining words: ZEST, PUNCH, ZING, KICK These all mean a sharp, exciting quality or liveliness.

Let me analyze these 16 words and find four groups of four related words. Words: DAWN, BIRTH, START, WED, COMBINE, DAY, VHS, FLY, ALF, FLOWER, POLE, NES, MTV, FUSE, BOND, GENESIS Let me think about possible categories: 1. Beginnings/Origins: DAWN, BIRTH, START, GENESIS - these all mean "beginning" or "origin" 2. Things that launched in the 1980s: VHS (well, late 70s), ALF (1986 TV show), NES (1985), MTV (1981) - these are all 1980s pop culture items. Wait, VHS was more 1970s... but it became popular in the 80s. 3. ___ something or something ___: Let me think about compound words or phrases. - FLOWER: FLOWER POWER, FLOWER BED, FLOWER POT - POLE: POLE VAULT, POLE POSITION - FLY: FLYWHEEL, FLY FISHING - BOND: JAMES BOND, BOND FIRE - FUSE: FUSE BOX - COMBINE: COMBINE HARVESTER - WED: WEDNESDAY 4. Farm equipment/machinery: COMBINE (harvester)... not enough. 5. James Bond related: BOND... 6. Let me think about "JOIN" synonyms: WED, COMBINE, FUSE, BOND - these all mean to join/unite/merge together! 7. So that leaves: DAY, VHS, FLY, ALF, FLOWER, POLE, NES, MTV 8. 1980s launches: ALF (1986), NES (1985), MTV (1981), VHS (became dominant in 80s)... 9. ___ BREAK: DAY BREAK, DAWN BREAK? No... Wait, let me reconsider. If GENESIS is in the "beginnings" group, it can't be in another. But GENESIS is also a band, and a Sega console. Let me reconsider: Maybe the 80s group is: ALF, NES, MTV, VHS - all debuted in the 1980s. That leaves: DAWN, BIRTH, START, DAY, FLY, FLOWER, POLE, COMBINE, WED, FUSE, BOND, GENESIS If WED, COMBINE, FUSE, BOND = "join/unite" synonyms And DAWN, BIRTH, START, GENESIS = "beginning" synonyms That leaves: DAY, FLY, FLOWER, POLE What connects DAY, FLY, FLOWER, POLE? • MAY DAY, MAY FLY, MAY FLOWER, MAY POLE! Yes! They all can be preceded by "MAY"! So my four groups: 1. "Beginning" synonyms: DAWN, BIRTH, START, GENESIS 2. "Join" synonyms: WED, COMBINE, FUSE, BOND 3. MAY ___: DAY, FLY, FLOWER, POLE 4. 1980s debuts: ALF, NES, MTV, VHS I'm most confident about the MAY___ group. Let me start with that. Actually, let me start with the one I'm most sure about. The MAY___ group is very clean: MAYDAY, MAYFLY, MAYFLOWER, MAYPOLE. Let me verify the others: • WED, COMBINE, FUSE, BOND all mean to join/unite ✓ • DAWN, BIRTH, START, GENESIS all mean beginning ✓ • ALF (1986), NES (1983 Japan/1985 US), MTV (1981), VHS (1976 but 80s dominance) ✓ I'll go with MAY___ first as I'm most confident.

Now the remaining words are: DAWN, BIRTH, START, WED, COMBINE, VHS, ALF, NES, MTV, FUSE, BOND, GENESIS My three remaining groups: 1. "Beginning" synonyms: DAWN, BIRTH, START, GENESIS 2. "Join/Unite" synonyms: WED, COMBINE, FUSE, BOND 3. 1980s debuts: ALF, NES, MTV, VHS I'm very confident in all three. Let me go with the "join/unite" synonyms next.

Remaining words: DAWN, BIRTH, START, VHS, ALF, NES, MTV, GENESIS My two remaining groups: 1. "Beginning" synonyms: DAWN, BIRTH, START, GENESIS 2. 1980s debuts: ALF, NES, MTV, VHS Let me go with the "beginning" synonyms.

The last four words are: VHS, ALF, NES, MTV - all 1980s debuts/launches.

Let me analyze these 16 words and find four groups of four related words. Available words: UNCHAINED, CHIEF, GREEN, DIRECTOR, COCO, PEA, HEAD, FICTION, CHEST, HAZEL, GROUNDS, CHAIR, LAWN, DOGS, BROWN, FIELD Let me think about possible categories: 1. Shades of brown/colors: HAZEL, BROWN, GREEN, COCO... but GREEN isn't brown. Let me reconsider. 2. Eye colors: HAZEL, GREEN, BROWN... need a fourth. 3. Words that can follow "NUT": CHEST(nut), HAZEL(nut), COCO(nut), PEA(nut) - wait, these could all precede "NUT"! CHESTNUT, HAZELNUT, COCONUT, PEANUT. Yes! This seems strong. 4. ___ PULP ___: FICTION (Pulp Fiction)... 5. Django ___: UNCHAINED (Django Unchained) 6. Reservoir ___: DOGS (Reservoir Dogs) 7. Quentin Tarantino movies: UNCHAINED (Django Unchained), DOGS (Reservoir Dogs), FICTION (Pulp Fiction)... what else? BROWN could be Jackie Brown! So: UNCHAINED, DOGS, FICTION, BROWN - but these are parts of Tarantino movie titles. Wait, but BROWN could also be a color. Let me reconsider. Tarantino movies: Django UNCHAINED, Reservoir DOGS, Pulp FICTION, Jackie BROWN. That's four! But then BROWN wouldn't be in a color group. Let me check other categories. 8. ___NUT words: CHEST(nut), HAZEL(nut), COCO(nut), PEA(nut) - these all become nuts when you add "nut". 9. Words that can precede "OFFICER": CHIEF officer, FIELD officer... hmm. 10. Words related to leadership/management: CHIEF, DIRECTOR, HEAD, CHAIR - these are all leadership titles! CHAIR(person), HEAD, CHIEF, DIRECTOR. Yes! 11. Words related to grass/outdoor: GREEN, LAWN, GROUNDS, FIELD - these are all areas of grass/outdoor spaces! GREEN (village green), LAWN, GROUNDS, FIELD. So my four categories would be: • ___NUT: CHEST, HAZEL, COCO, PEA • Tarantino movie words: UNCHAINED, DOGS, FICTION, BROWN • Leadership roles: CHIEF, DIRECTOR, HEAD, CHAIR • Grassy areas: GREEN, LAWN, GROUNDS, FIELD Let me verify each word is accounted for: UNCHAINED ✓, CHIEF ✓, GREEN ✓, DIRECTOR ✓, COCO ✓, PEA ✓, HEAD ✓, FICTION ✓, CHEST ✓, HAZEL ✓, GROUNDS ✓, CHAIR ✓, LAWN ✓, DOGS ✓, BROWN ✓, FIELD ✓ All 16 words accounted for. This looks very clean. I'm most confident about the ___NUT category. Let me start with that.

Now let me work with the remaining 12 words: UNCHAINED, CHIEF, GREEN, DIRECTOR, HEAD, FICTION, GROUNDS, CHAIR, LAWN, DOGS, BROWN, FIELD My categories: • Tarantino movie words: UNCHAINED (Django Unchained), DOGS (Reservoir Dogs), FICTION (Pulp Fiction), BROWN (Jackie Brown) • Leadership roles: CHIEF, DIRECTOR, HEAD, CHAIR • Grassy areas: GREEN, LAWN, GROUNDS, FIELD I'm very confident about all three. Let me go with Tarantino movies next.

Remaining 8 words: CHIEF, GREEN, DIRECTOR, HEAD, GROUNDS, CHAIR, LAWN, FIELD My categories: • Leadership roles: CHIEF, DIRECTOR, HEAD, CHAIR • Grassy areas: GREEN, LAWN, GROUNDS, FIELD Both seem very clear. Let me go with leadership roles.

Remaining 4 words: GREEN, GROUNDS, LAWN, FIELD These are all grassy areas/outdoor spaces.

Let me analyze these 16 words and find four groups of four related words. Available words: WOOD, PIP, SPARK, TILE, CARPET, COAST, LAMINATE, BANK, CONNECTION, HEARTBREAKER, SHORE, STRAND, FIREWORKS, CHEMISTRY, WAILER, BANSHEE Let me think about potential categories: 1. Types of flooring: WOOD, TILE, CARPET, LAMINATE - these are all types of flooring! That seems very strong. 2. Beach/waterside: COAST, BANK, SHORE, STRAND - these are all words meaning the edge of a body of water. STRAND can mean a beach/shore. 3. ___ bomb: SPARK? No... Let me think differently. 4. Words related to "screamer" or someone who cries/wails: WAILER, BANSHEE... 5. Spark, connection, chemistry, fireworks - these could all relate to romantic attraction/chemistry between people. "There was a spark," "we had a connection," "the chemistry was there," "fireworks went off." 6. Led Zeppelin songs? HEARTBREAKER is a Led Zeppelin song... Wait, let me reconsider. PIP, WAILER, BANSHEE, HEARTBREAKER... • Bob Marley and the WAILERS • PIP - Gladys Knight and the Pips • BANSHEE - Siouxsie and the Banshees • HEARTBREAKER - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers So the pattern could be: "___ and the ___S" - band names where these are the plural part (the backing group): • PIP → Gladys Knight and the Pips • WAILER → Bob Marley and the Wailers • BANSHEE → Siouxsie and the Banshees • HEARTBREAKER → Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers That's a great category! So my four groups would be: 1. Types of flooring: WOOD, TILE, CARPET, LAMINATE 2. Edge of water: COAST, BANK, SHORE, STRAND 3. Romantic attraction: SPARK, CONNECTION, CHEMISTRY, FIREWORKS 4. "___ and the ___s" bands: PIP, WAILER, BANSHEE, HEARTBREAKER Let me verify each group has exactly 4 words and all 16 are accounted for. Yes! I'm most confident about flooring, so let me start there. Actually, I'm very confident about all four. Let me start with the band names since that's the most creative/tricky one and I want to lock it in. Actually, let me start with flooring since it's the most straightforward.

Now let me work with the remaining 12 words: PIP, SPARK, COAST, BANK, CONNECTION, HEARTBREAKER, SHORE, STRAND, FIREWORKS, CHEMISTRY, WAILER, BANSHEE My remaining three groups: 1. Edge of water: COAST, BANK, SHORE, STRAND 2. Romantic attraction: SPARK, CONNECTION, CHEMISTRY, FIREWORKS 3. "___ and the ___s" bands: PIP, WAILER, BANSHEE, HEARTBREAKER I'm very confident in all three. Let me go with the band names next. • PIP → Gladys Knight and the Pips • WAILER → Bob Marley and the Wailers • BANSHEE → Siouxsie and the Banshees • HEARTBREAKER → Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Remaining 8 words: SPARK, COAST, BANK, CONNECTION, SHORE, STRAND, FIREWORKS, CHEMISTRY My remaining two groups: 1. Edge of water: COAST, BANK, SHORE, STRAND 2. Romantic attraction: SPARK, CONNECTION, CHEMISTRY, FIREWORKS Both are very clear. Let me go with romantic attraction.

The last four words are: COAST, BANK, SHORE, STRAND - all meaning the edge of a body of water.

Let me analyze the 16 words and find four groups of four related words. ROSE, TRIX, ROGER, FOLLOW, WATCH, PEN, MONTH, TRACK, PRINTER, MONITOR, VELVETEEN, DONUT, SQUID, WHITE, JUROR, TATTOO MACHINE Let me think about possible categories: 1. Things that use INK: PRINTER, PEN, SQUID, TATTOO MACHINE - yes! Squid has ink, printers use ink, pens use ink, tattoo machines use ink. This seems strong. 2. ___ RABBIT: VELVETEEN (Velveteen Rabbit), ROGER (Roger Rabbit), WHITE (White Rabbit), JACK (no)... DONUT? No. TRIX? Wait - Trix rabbit! The cereal mascot is the Trix Rabbit. So VELVETEEN, ROGER, WHITE, TRIX - all ___ RABBIT. 3. Things you can do to keep TRACK of something / surveillance related: FOLLOW, WATCH, MONITOR, TRACK - these all mean to observe/keep tabs on. Yes, these are synonyms for "keep an eye on" or "observe." 4. That leaves: ROSE, MONTH, DONUT, JUROR - what do these have in common? Let me think... • ROSE: flower, name, past tense of rise • MONTH: period of time • DONUT: food • JUROR: person on a jury • Could they all have a hidden word? ROSE has "ROSE", MONTH has "MON", DONUT has "DO" or "NUT"... • NUMBER: Juror number? Rose number? • They could all follow a number: Number 12 (juror), a dozen (donut), month (12 months in a year)... • Actually: JUROR #___, DONUT (a dozen donuts), MONTH (12 months)... • Wait, do they all relate to 12? A dozen donuts, 12 jurors, 12 months... what about ROSE? A dozen roses! Yes! All associated with DOZEN / 12: ROSE (dozen roses), MONTH (12 months in a year), DONUT (dozen donuts), JUROR (12 jurors on a jury). Let me verify my four groups: 1. Things that use INK: PRINTER, PEN, SQUID, TATTOO MACHINE 2. ___ RABBIT: VELVETEEN, ROGER, WHITE, TRIX 3. Synonyms for observe/track: FOLLOW, WATCH, MONITOR, TRACK 4. Come in dozens/12: ROSE, MONTH, DONUT, JUROR This all fits perfectly! Let me start with the one I'm most confident about. I'll go with the INK group first since it's very concrete.

Now let me go with the ___ RABBIT group: VELVETEEN (Velveteen Rabbit), ROGER (Roger Rabbit), WHITE (White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland), TRIX (Trix Rabbit from the cereal).

Now I have two groups left: • Synonyms for observe/track: FOLLOW, WATCH, MONITOR, TRACK • Come in dozens/12: ROSE, MONTH, DONUT, JUROR

Let me analyze these 16 words and find four groups of four related words. Available words: PICTURE, SIXTEEN, TALK, TOOTH, BRAIN, PRUNE, SHAR PEI, FEATURE, SPRINKLE, SCATTER, CREPE PAPER, PEPPER, FILM, LITTER, FLICK, POTATO Let me think about possible categories: Movies/Films synonyms: PICTURE, FEATURE, FILM, FLICK - these are all synonyms for "movie" Things that are wrinkled: PRUNE, SHAR PEI, CREPE PAPER, BRAIN - all known for being wrinkly ___ something or something ___: Let me think about compound words or phrases. SIXTEEN - sweet sixteen TALK - small talk, talk show TOOTH - sweet tooth SPRINKLE - sprinkle SCATTER - scatter PEPPER - pepper LITTER - litter POTATO - potato "Sweet ___": SIXTEEN (sweet sixteen), TALK (sweet talk), TOOTH (sweet tooth), POTATO (sweet potato) - yes, that works! Remaining words: SPRINKLE, SCATTER, PEPPER, LITTER These could all mean "to distribute/spread things around" - SPRINKLE, SCATTER, PEPPER, LITTER can all mean to spread things about. Let me verify: • SPRINKLE: to scatter small amounts • SCATTER: to spread/distribute • PEPPER: to pepper with (distribute throughout) • LITTER: to litter (spread trash/items around) Yes, these all mean to scatter/spread things around. So my four categories: 1. Synonyms for "movie": PICTURE, FEATURE, FILM, FLICK 2. Wrinkly things: PRUNE, SHAR PEI, CREPE PAPER, BRAIN 3. "Sweet ___": SIXTEEN, TALK, TOOTH, POTATO 4. To scatter/spread: SPRINKLE, SCATTER, PEPPER, LITTER I'm most confident about the movie synonyms. Let me start with that.

Remaining words: SIXTEEN, TALK, TOOTH, BRAIN, PRUNE, SHAR PEI, SPRINKLE, SCATTER, CREPE PAPER, PEPPER, LITTER, POTATO My categories: 1. ✅ Synonyms for "movie": PICTURE, FEATURE, FILM, FLICK 2. Wrinkly things: PRUNE, SHAR PEI, CREPE PAPER, BRAIN 3. "Sweet ___": SIXTEEN, TALK, TOOTH, POTATO 4. To scatter/spread: SPRINKLE, SCATTER, PEPPER, LITTER I'm very confident about "Sweet ___" - let me go with that next.

Remaining words: BRAIN, PRUNE, SHAR PEI, SPRINKLE, SCATTER, CREPE PAPER, PEPPER, LITTER My categories: 3. Wrinkly things: PRUNE, SHAR PEI, CREPE PAPER, BRAIN 4. To scatter/spread: SPRINKLE, SCATTER, PEPPER, LITTER Let me go with wrinkly things next.

Remaining words: SPRINKLE, SCATTER, PEPPER, LITTER These all mean to spread/distribute things around.

Let me analyze these 16 words and find four groups of 4 related words. Available words: HURDLE, BATON, HAMMER, GOATEE, CROCK, BOWLINE, BEND, HOGWASH, TAIL, SHEEPSHANK, HITCH, HORSEFEATHERS, HORNS, POLE, PITCHFORK, BUNK Let me think about potential categories: Nonsense/Rubbish synonyms: CROCK, HOGWASH, HORSEFEATHERS, BUNK - all mean "nonsense" • CROCK (as in "crock of ___") • HOGWASH • HORSEFEATHERS • BUNK Types of knots: BOWLINE, BEND, SHEEPSHANK, HITCH - these are all types of knots • BOWLINE (a knot) • BEND (a type of knot) • SHEEPSHANK (a type of knot) • HITCH (a type of knot) Track and field events: HURDLE, BATON (relay), HAMMER (throw), POLE (vault) • HURDLE • BATON (relay race) • HAMMER (hammer throw) • POLE (pole vault) Devil-related: GOATEE, TAIL, HORNS, PITCHFORK - things associated with the devil • GOATEE • TAIL • HORNS • PITCHFORK This all fits perfectly! Every word is accounted for in exactly one category. Let me start with the one I'm most confident about: types of knots. Actually, let me start with "nonsense" synonyms since that's very clean.

Now let me continue with the remaining words: HURDLE, BATON, HAMMER, GOATEE, BOWLINE, BEND, TAIL, SHEEPSHANK, HITCH, HORNS, POLE, PITCHFORK Types of knots: BOWLINE, BEND, SHEEPSHANK, HITCH Track and field: HURDLE, BATON, HAMMER, POLE Devil-related: GOATEE, TAIL, HORNS, PITCHFORK Let me go with types of knots next.

Remaining words: HURDLE, BATON, HAMMER, GOATEE, TAIL, HORNS, POLE, PITCHFORK Devil-related: GOATEE, TAIL, HORNS, PITCHFORK Track and field: HURDLE, BATON, HAMMER, POLE Let me go with the devil category.

Remaining words: HURDLE, BATON, HAMMER, POLE These are all track and field related items.

Let me analyze these 16 words and find four groups of four related words. Available words: WALL, KEY, BEST, MAIN, TOP, COMPASS, PORTAL, BEAT, BETTER, GATE, DOWNING, INSET, SCALE, FLEET, DOOR, HATCH Let me think about possible categories: 1. Ways to enter/openings: PORTAL, GATE, DOOR, HATCH - these are all entrances/openings you can pass through. This seems strong. 2. Famous streets: WALL (Wall Street), MAIN (Main Street), DOWNING (Downing Street), FLEET (Fleet Street) - all famous streets! This is very strong. 3. ___ map: SCALE? KEY? INSET? COMPASS? - things found on a map: KEY (map key), COMPASS (compass rose), SCALE (map scale), INSET (inset map). Yes! These are all components/features of a map. 4. Remaining words: BEST, TOP, BEAT, BETTER - these could all mean "to surpass/outdo" someone. BEST (to best someone), TOP (to top someone), BEAT (to beat someone), BETTER (to better someone). Yes, these all mean to surpass/defeat. Let me verify: • Map features: KEY, COMPASS, SCALE, INSET ✓ • Famous streets: WALL, MAIN, DOWNING, FLEET ✓ • Entrances: PORTAL, GATE, DOOR, HATCH ✓ • To surpass: BEST, TOP, BEAT, BETTER ✓ All 16 words are accounted for perfectly. Let me start with the one I'm most confident about. I'll go with famous streets first: WALL, MAIN, DOWNING, FLEET (___ Street).

Now let me pick the next most confident group. Remaining words: KEY, BEST, TOP, COMPASS, PORTAL, BEAT, BETTER, GATE, INSET, SCALE, DOOR, HATCH Map features/components: KEY, COMPASS, SCALE, INSET - these are all things found on a map.

Remaining words: BEST, TOP, PORTAL, BEAT, BETTER, GATE, DOOR, HATCH Entrances/openings: PORTAL, GATE, DOOR, HATCH To surpass/defeat: BEST, TOP, BEAT, BETTER

The remaining four words are BEST, TOP, BEAT, BETTER - all meaning to surpass/outdo.

Let me analyze these 16 words and try to find four groups of four related words. JUSTICE, BLANKET, PLAY, UPHOLD, DRAW, LABOR, THROW, SHAM, DISCARD, KEEP, PASS, ENERGY, HONOR, SHEET, STATE, FULFILL Let me think about possible categories: 1. Bedding items: BLANKET, THROW, SHAM, SHEET - These are all things you find on a bed! A sham is a decorative pillow cover, a throw is a blanket, sheet and blanket are obvious. 2. ___ a promise / Keep/Honor/Fulfill/Uphold: KEEP, HONOR, FULFILL, UPHOLD - These all mean to "keep" or "fulfill" a promise/obligation. You can "keep a promise," "honor a promise," "fulfill a promise," "uphold a promise." 3. Card game actions: DRAW, DISCARD, PASS, PLAY - These are all things you do in a card game. 4. Department of ___: JUSTICE, LABOR, ENERGY, STATE - These are all U.S. government departments! Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of Energy, Department of State. Let me verify: • Bedding: BLANKET, THROW, SHAM, SHEET ✓ • Card game actions: DRAW, DISCARD, PASS, PLAY ✓ • U.S. Departments: JUSTICE, LABOR, ENERGY, STATE ✓ • Fulfill a promise: KEEP, HONOR, FULFILL, UPHOLD ✓ All 16 words are accounted for with no overlaps. I'm very confident in this. Let me start with the one I'm most confident about. I think U.S. Departments is very clean, and so is Bedding. Let me go with Bedding first.

Now let me go with another high-confidence group. U.S. Departments: JUSTICE, LABOR, ENERGY, STATE (Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of Energy, Department of State).

Now I have two remaining groups: • Card game actions: DRAW, DISCARD, PASS, PLAY • Fulfill a promise/obligation: KEEP, HONOR, FULFILL, UPHOLD Both are very clear. Let me go with card game actions.

The last four remaining words: KEEP, HONOR, FULFILL, UPHOLD - all meaning to fulfill/keep a promise or obligation.

Let me analyze these 16 words and find four groups of 4. Available words: AERIAL, AREAL, ARABESQUE, LINEAR, AURORA, TIANA, ROUNDOFF, VERDANA, MERIDA, IMPACT, SPLIT, VOLUMETRIC, ARIEL, ANGULAR, ARIAL, GEORGIA Let me think about potential categories: Fonts/Typefaces: VERDANA, IMPACT, ARIAL, GEORGIA - these are all well-known computer fonts. That's a strong group of 4. Disney Princesses: AURORA (Sleeping Beauty), TIANA (Princess and the Frog), MERIDA (Brave), ARIEL (The Little Mermaid) - that's 4 Disney princesses. Gymnastics moves: ARABESQUE, ROUNDOFF, SPLIT, AERIAL - these are all gymnastics moves/positions. Types of measurements/analysis: LINEAR, AREAL, VOLUMETRIC, ANGULAR - these all relate to types of measurements or dimensions. LINEAR (1D), AREAL (2D/area), VOLUMETRIC (3D/volume), ANGULAR (angle-based). These could all precede "measurement" or describe types of analysis. Let me verify: • Fonts: VERDANA, IMPACT, ARIAL, GEORGIA ✓ • Disney Princesses: AURORA, TIANA, MERIDA, ARIEL ✓ • Gymnastics: ARABESQUE, ROUNDOFF, SPLIT, AERIAL ✓ • Measurement types: LINEAR, AREAL, VOLUMETRIC, ANGULAR ✓ That accounts for all 16 words perfectly. I'm very confident in this grouping. Let me start with the one I'm most confident about - fonts.

Now let me go with Disney Princesses: AURORA, TIANA, MERIDA, ARIEL

Gymnastics moves: ARABESQUE, ROUNDOFF, SPLIT, AERIAL

The remaining four words are: LINEAR, AREAL, VOLUMETRIC, ANGULAR - all types of measurements.