The best April Fools’ Day joke this year is the Connections puzzle
The New York Times Connections puzzle used emojis for April Fools’ Day. The switch up upset long-time players of the word association game.
This article references relevant content from the polygon.com website. Original article link: [https://www.polygon.com/24118203/connections-april-fools-day-prank-nytimes-emoji-reactions]
If you’re looking for a solid 10 out of 10 April Fools’ Day goof, might I suggest playing Monday’s New York Times Connections puzzle?
Connections is a word association game played on a grid of 16 words. In this daily puzzle, players search for four different four-word groupings, each with its own uniting theme. Easy to learn, hard to parse, this particular game has garnered a reputation online for being difficult and sometimes having somewhat obtuse solutions. Then, on Monday, the editors took the puzzle in a surprising direction by substituting its usual array of words with emoji.
It’s a whimsical and visual twist on a beloved game. Some online hyped it up as the “CRAZIEST CONNECTIONS EVER,” but not everyone is thrilled with the antics. Players quickly took to social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) to share their criticisms of the switch-up. One user on X wrote, “what the nyt has done to connections for april fools day is evil and potentially deserves jail time.” Although some comments seemed a bit... aggressive, they at least seem to be made in a gesture of good, puzzle-loving fun. Another person on X wrote, “nyt connections editor I am in your walls.” So if you’re a Connections editor, an exorcism might be in order to protect yourself from all the bad vibes.
Polygon reached out to the New York Times to ask about the special puzzle. When asked about what inspired the unique spin, Everdeen Mason, the editorial director for New York Times Games, said that the team encourages puzzle makers to get creative with the game.
“Connections, like all New York Times Games, are human made and we encourage the puzzle constructors and editors to take creative swings,” Mason wrote in an email. “This makes our puzzles more fun and prevents monotony. We test every puzzle before publication and do take solver feedback into account when we’re experimenting with new formats and styles of puzzles. We’re always glad to see our community of solvers is having fun, even if they find our puzzles....well, puzzling.”
I personally think its a refreshing take on a game that I already enjoy. It still uses the same kind of logic, and it scratched my daily logic-puzzle itch. It’s just that this time, I got to play by clicking around on all the cute emoji.