PURRFECT CONNECTIONS: THE DELIGHTFUL CHALLENGE OF NYT CAT PUZZLES UNRAVELED

Crossword puzzles and other word games offer cool pleasures, but few of those pleasures compare with figuring out one of those rambly, tricky clues in the New York Times’ Sunday word game Connections. Even better, when the mystery at hand is about cats. We’ll get there in a minute. First we need to take care of some business. Everyone must play the word-game of language. It’s the most popular game in town. Every one of us wins some, loses some. But trying to communicate something is meaningless if we’re disinterested in knowing what others are doing to share ‘our’ story. Then, what we’re really talking about is ‘my story’. And if you’re the ONLY one talking, then I’m forced to translate as I follow along. It’s rarely an exact replica of the original. The cat is a clue. It’s often difficult to figure out exactly what the cat is doing, but we can still tell what was going on the last time it meowed.

THE ENCHANTING WORLD OF NYT CONNECTIONS

NYT Connections – a little puzzle tucked away within the New York Times’ puzzle empire – is a variation on the well-worn word-game format. Think Wordle but with a twist: instead of trying to figure out what letters should be used in words that match the ones that the machine has given you, you must uncover the link between seemingly unrelated words. What could be better than this perverse little misdirection that kept puzzle lovers coming back for more? Cats, of course!

THE LATEST MEWS: BREAKING DOWN GAME #368

Players of game #368 were in for a ‘meowvelous’ mix of clues and categories in the final Connections. From mundane things to feline-infused sayings, this final offering was another example of how Connections could turn a puzzling session into a grand adventure. Cats were how that mousetrap created a moral connection.

THE CLUE CATEGORIES UNCOVERED

• YELLOW This category purred with pleasure, suggesting actions or feelings one might associate with enjoying a cat having a quiet moment with you.
• GREEN: Victory-these greens could just as well be applied to the pleasure of finally, finally getting a cat into the new hammock bed.
• BLUE: Political merch doesn’t explicitly summon cat-related imagery, but look at the buttons featuring a cat. That marketing strategy makes sense.
• PURPLE The most obvious reference to our furry companions, the ‘cat’ prefix opening up a world in which words meet pets.

By misusing language and drawing on fancy catsight themes, this edition of Connections gave us a challenging word workout and paid tribute to our masters.

MASTERING THE PURRPLEXING PUZZLES

For people shaking their heads in bewilderment over which combs to play, here’s a clue on how to get to the answers: start with what you know. In the process, cats might just deviously inspire the lateral thinking to make the right connection.

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO VICTORY

1. Identify the familiar: for the cat-loving panellist, the purrle would be a solid starting place.
2. Vice versa: Don’t be discouraged by initial rejections – cool cats do eventually thaw.
3. Make the tie-in: How might she explain the categories as they relate to your own experiences with cats and/or cat media?

Hopefully, your life will become a little easier if you bear these suggestions in mind. Maybe you’ll go from feeling like a perplexed kitten to being a cat who has just had a good meal, and is now happily sleeping in the sunlight.

WHY WE CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF CAT PUZZLES

A big part of Connections’ allure, aside from challenging readers’ logic and memory, was the presence of cats: elusive, inscrutable, fascinating creatures, whose erratic behaviour has much in common with the game’s erratic structure – and who you want to resist but cannot help but love. Each completed puzzle was a victory of clarity over mystery, a triumph over the enigma of the feline mind.

THE CAT'S WHISKERS: A CLOSER LOOK AT OUR FELINE MUSES

Moving away from the realm of games and puzzles, cats appear in human culture and history through the ages as well. Independent, elegant and even inscrutable at times, cats are fascinating to us. Whether it is what we think of as their ‘wild’-cat gaze, or the uncanny comfort we feel when they purr nosily in our laps, cats appeal to our hearts and minds.

Cats as a symbol: in the contexts of stories, movies, and – why not – NYT Connections, they stand as a proxy for the richness of the natural world and the pleasure of finding connections wherever we can. The more puzzles you solve, the more links you see between unlikely words, the more you will feel as if you are coming nearer the heart of the animal: mysterious, delightful, and infinite.

IN CONCLUSION

Whether you’ve been at this word-puzzle thing for years, or are a new fan inspired by the tomcat photo in the upper-left corner, the New York Times Connections provides a relatively easy but still challenging way to flex your mental muscles. And if you’re a cat person (as we all obviously are, right?), game #368 was a good reminder of why cats are so welcome to our lives; whether real or reflected, they make life more fun.

And thus, here’s to the cats, let them continue to spur puzzles, art and stories, so that what they do and are, and what we do to them, will not be forgotten. For the puzzle-seekers among us, the game of finding connections will go on, like the cat stalking through the high grass: ready, still, then, pounce!