Today’s Connections (#871) lands at a moderate 2.5 out of 5 on the difficulty scale. If you’d like to play first, head to the official game page at nytimes.com/games/connections. Otherwise, you’ll find spoiler-free nudges below, followed by the complete solutions.

NYT Connections #871 word list (no spoilers)

Word
Abecedarium
Backbone
Computer Keyboard
Cour age
Heart
Medium
Outlet
Ouija Board
Platform
Sacrum
Scrabble
Séance
Seitan
Seychelles
Spirit
Venue

Category hints (ordered from easiest to hardest)

  • Yellow: Metaphorical strength or resilience.
  • Green: A means or channel for carrying something to an audience.
  • Blue: All start with the same “say” sound.
  • Purple: Things that include the full A-to-Z alphabet.

Full answers for Connections #871 (spoilers)

Color Category Words
Yellow Fortitude Backbone, Courage, Heart, Spirit
Green Channel Medium, Outlet, Platform, Venue
Blue Words starting with the “say” sound Sacrum, Seitan, Seychelles, Séance
Purple Things featuring letters A through Z Abecedarium, Computer Keyboard, Ouija Board, Scrabble

Notes on traps and overlap

Several entries nudge toward spiritualism, but they split across different sets. Séance and Medium don’t group together; one belongs to the blue phonetic set, the other to the Green “channel” set. Ouija Board and Spirit show up elsewhere as well.

There’s also anatomical bait: Backbone and Sacrum look like a pair, but “Backbone” is used metaphorically for resilience (Yellow), while “Sacrum” is chosen for its initial sound (Blue). Similarly, Platform can suggest tech or transit, but it’s grouped with general “channel” terms alongside Medium, Outlet, and Venue.

If you’re protecting a streak, work from obvious metaphors (Yellow) and broad communication terms (Green) before tackling the phonetic Blue set and the all-letters Purple group.