Cracking the NYT Connections Puzzle for August 12
Today’s NYT Connections puzzle, number 792, was one of those brain teasers that seemed straightforward at first glance… until it wasn’t. If you haven’t played it before, the premise is simple: you’re given 16 words, and the goal is to sort them into four groups of four based on a common theme. Sounds easy, right? Well, as any regular player knows, it’s a game full of sneaky red herrings designed to trip you up.
The words for today’s challenge were: Bowling Ball, City Hall, Supermarket, Bowling Pins, Golf Course, Bowling Alley, Sponge, Bowling Green, Decade, Highway, Wall Street, Fingers, Brooklyn Bridge, Colander, Swimming Pool, and Commandments. Right away, all those “bowling” terms screamed to be grouped together—Bowling Ball, Bowling Alley, Bowling Pins, Bowling Green. But that was too obvious, and sure enough, it turned out to be a trap. Each “bowling” item actually belonged to a completely different category.
Here’s how it all broke down:
Yellow group was “Groups of Ten” — Bowling Pins, Commandments, Decade, and Fingers. Once you realize “ten” is the link, it clicks instantly.
Also Read:Green group was “Places with Lanes” — Bowling Alley, Highway, Supermarket, and Swimming Pool. Yes, a supermarket counts thanks to the checkout lanes.
Blue group was “Landmarks in Downtown NYC” — Bowling Green, Brooklyn Bridge, City Hall, and Wall Street. Recognizing that NYC theme is what made this set feel like a mini geography quiz.
Purple group was “Things with Holes” — Bowling Ball, Colander, Golf Course, and Sponge. A practical group, and probably the easiest to visualize.
The tricky part for many players today was separating the Green and Purple sets, because places like a bowling alley and a golf course could almost overlap depending on how you think about them. The NYC landmarks were a little more forgiving, especially if you caught Wall Street and Brooklyn Bridge early. The Yellow group was the sleeper challenge—it’s not always easy to spot a “number” theme when the words are so different from each other.
For those who got stuck, the hints pointed toward numbers, lanes, famous city spots, and physical features, which was enough to nudge players toward the right path without giving away too much. Still, a lot of people probably hit that dreaded fourth mistake before piecing it together.
If you cracked it, well done—you’ve outsmarted some very deliberate misdirection. And if you didn’t, no worries. That’s the beauty of Connections : there’s a fresh puzzle waiting every day at midnight, ready to test your logic, vocabulary, and patience all over again.
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