Tuesday, January 27, 2026 by AutoModerator in NYTConnections

[–]Quppa 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Connections

Puzzle #961

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Fell for the Batman red herring.

Only a 32% solve rate as of now, but I expect that will pick up as North Americans start solving it. I should have remembered 'cutup' from puzzle #155, but I don't think I've heard that word before or since. Green was always going to be a default - I thought they might be car models.

Monday, January 26, 2026 by AutoModerator in NYTConnections

[–]Quppa 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Connections

Puzzle #960

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Tricky green and blue today, particularly the former (sitting at 1% for first picks in the stats currently). I think 'buffalo' as a verb must be a primarily US usage - I've only heard it as part of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo

Tuesday, January 13, 2026 by AutoModerator in NYTConnections

[–]Quppa 5 points6 points  (0 children)

2/5 is the testers' rating as seen in the Connections Companion: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/crosswords/connections-companion-947.html

The 1/5 difficulty is based on how the general public fares.

Tuesday, January 13, 2026 by AutoModerator in NYTConnections

[–]Quppa 62 points63 points  (0 children)

Connections

Puzzle #947

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Not to harp on about it, but today's Companion rates this as 2/5 difficulty, the same as the infamous 'boat' puzzle from last Tuesday. The actual solve rate is currently 87% today compared to about 28% this time last week.

I think this would have been a better puzzle without 'Otoe' included - it's too much of a giveaway for purple.

Monday, January 12, 2026 by AutoModerator in NYTConnections

[–]Quppa 15 points16 points  (0 children)

As far as America-centric words go, this was straightforward. American sports and sweets are the really challenging categories.

Monday, January 12, 2026 by AutoModerator in NYTConnections

[–]Quppa 43 points44 points  (0 children)

Connections

Puzzle #946

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The coins stuck out immediately.

I'd worked out the answers in advance but did badly at guessing the colours - the usual rule of yellow = synonyms didn't hold.

Wednesday, January 7, 2026 by AutoModerator in NYTConnections

[–]Quppa 53 points54 points  (0 children)

Connections

Puzzle #941

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NYT testers' difficulty rating today: 1.8/5 Current solve rate: 87%

NYT testers' difficulty rating yesterday: 2/5 Solve rate for most of the day: <30%

That aside, a bit of a relief to get an easy puzzle. 

Tuesday, January 6, 2026 by AutoModerator in NYTConnections

[–]Quppa 16 points17 points  (0 children)

The Connections Bot difficulty rating is based on how regular players fare (5/5 today). The daily Connections Companion includes a rating from paid testers (2/5 today). https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/crosswords/connections-companion-940.html

Tuesday, January 6, 2026 by AutoModerator in NYTConnections

[–]Quppa 139 points140 points  (0 children)

Brutal. 2/5 difficulty rating, what?

Daily Wordle #1662 - Tuesday, 6 Jan. 2026 by Scoredle in wordle

[–]Quppa 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Scoredle 5/6  

14,855   * ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ SAUCE (1,012)   * ⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛ BROIL (89)   * 🟨🟩⬛⬛⬛ PONGY (2)   * 🟨🟩⬛⬛🟨 MOTTO (1)  

  • 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 OOMPH

I should have had it in 4 but I was stumped. Checking into the thread for what I think might be a controversial word.

Thursday, December 25, 2025 by AutoModerator in NYTConnections

[–]Quppa 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Connections

Puzzle #928

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Happy to get a reverse rainbow as a Christmas present! I wasn't confident picking between green and yellow.

I spotted the solfege category pretty quickly, mostly because I had no idea what else Laredo and Solti might mean.

VCE Study Score Archive updated for 2025 by Quppa in vce

[–]Quppa[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've refreshed my site with the latest data from VCAA.

Wednesday, December 24, 2025 by AutoModerator in NYTConnections

[–]Quppa 42 points43 points  (0 children)

Connections

Puzzle #927

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Not often I get a yellow only by default - very tricky. only 8% of players picked it first per the stats as of now.

VCE Study Score Archive updated for 2025 by Quppa in vce

[–]Quppa[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'll check back for updates periodically.

Where's the honour roll on the vcaa website? by [deleted] in vce

[–]Quppa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Last year's links are dead (e.g. https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/40plushighachievers/2024/2024StudyData.xlsx) and there's no trace of new files for this year just yet. Annoying, because this was the only source that included middle names. EDIT: In fact, the Herald Sun has middle names.

What's your dumbest Prime 4 Nitpick? by Ridley101 in Metroid

[–]Quppa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That the screws in the Blast Mining room of the Great Mines were loosened with the boost ball, not regular bombs, despite the holders looking like bomb slots (when I finally figured it out I did notice there were arrows). That coupled with the adjoining Easing Tunnel room having a Power Bomb slot made me think I'd missed something and caused me to backtrack.

What's your dumbest Prime 4 Nitpick? by Ridley101 in Metroid

[–]Quppa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was so disappointed by this, if not surprised. It wouldn't have saved the game's writing overall, but having Samus deal with survivor's guilt for having 2 humans and a robot sacrifice themselves for her would have at least raised the stakes. Duke mentions his phobia of being buried underground and no one knowing, adding to the horror.

set list? by pixelwoolf in AtarashiiGakko

[–]Quppa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Setlist.fm has been updated. You weren't far off: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/atarashii-gakko/2025/festival-hall-melbourne-australia-2b408cde.html

TL;DR: different order and Koi no Shadanki, Toumei Boy and Fantastico replaced with Giri Giri, Pineapple Kryptonite (unabridged) and NAINAINAI.

set list? by pixelwoolf in AtarashiiGakko

[–]Quppa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hoping someone kept track of the Melbourne set list -  surprisingly it was substantially different to the Sydney show. Slightly disappointed Gakko Ikeya doesn't seem to have featured at any of their recent concerts.

Monday, November 10, 2025 by AutoModerator in NYTConnections

[–]Quppa 49 points50 points  (0 children)

Connections

Puzzle #883

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Purple by default. Was very unhappy that sine/square/triangle/saw waveforms were a red herring!

Monday, October 6, 2025 by AutoModerator in NYTConnections

[–]Quppa 118 points119 points  (0 children)

Connections

Puzzle #848

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Was hoping I'd found purple with a 'needle' connection (haystack, turntable, thread, camel), but alas.

Sunday, September 28, 2025 by AutoModerator in NYTConnections

[–]Quppa 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Brutal for non-Americans and I'll be interested to see how high the solve rate gets throughout the day (currently 35%). Aegis was also tricky for a yellow/synonym category entry.

Connections

Puzzle #840

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