Youll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase.

Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common.

Select four items and hit the Submit button.

If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed.

(Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.)

If your guess was incorrect, youll get a chance to give it another spin.

You win when youve correctly identified all four groups.

But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

Expect to see overlapping groups.

So dont hit submit until youve confirmed that your group of four containsonlythose four things.

If youre stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to havenoconnection to the others.

Another way to win when youre stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints.

Below, Ill give you some oblique hints at todays Connections answers.

And further down the page, Ill reveal the themes and the answers.

Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

Does todays Connections game require any special knowledge?

Green category - And this one is trying to fool you.

Blue category - Youll hear this loud and clear.

Purple category - And youll be singing along with this one.

Does todays Connections game involve any wordplay?

Aside from the usual ambiguity, not really.

Ready to hear the answers?

Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.

BEWARE: Spoilers follow for todays Connections puzzle!

Were about to give away some of the answers.

Scroll slowly if you dont want the whole thing spoiled.

(The full solution is a bit further down.)

What are the ambiguous words in todays Connections?

A SHAM can be a decorative pillowcase, or it can refer to something that is a fake.

What are the categories in todays Connections?

I give them all away below.

What are the yellow words in todays Connections?

The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward.

What are the green words in todays Connections?

The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest.

What are the blue words in todays Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest.

What are the purple words in todays Connections?

The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest.

How I solved todays Connections

I saw the eye parts first.

PUPIL, RETINA, LENS, IRISjust four.

Next up were the FAKE words: PHONY, SHAM, and BOGUS all fit, without anything ambiguous.

I had no idea until submitting the last group that the names were all songs.

(I did think of Lady Gagas ALEJANDRO, but didnt make the connection with the others.)