Find the links between the words to win today's game of Connections.gettyLooking for Saturdays Connections hints and answers instead? You can find them here:Hey, everyone! Hope youre having a terrific weekend.Im a few days in to my end-of-year semi-vacation. Its not a full vacation, because as much as I enjoy writing this column every day, its technically work. Still, Ive been able to rest a bit more than usual. I managed to make a serious dent in my sleep debt the other night with a 15-hour slumber. I really needed that.Before we get started, Ive started a discussion group for Connections and this column on Discord. You can chat about each game (and other topics) with me and other folks. Im always interested to find out how other people approach the game, so join us! Its fun.Its also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare(!) occasions that I mess something up.Todays NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, December 22, are coming right up.How To Play ConnectionsConnections is a free, popular New York Times daily word game. You get a new puzzle at midnight every day. You can play on the NYT website or Games app.MORE FOR YOUYoure presented with a grid of 16 words. Your task is to arrange them into four groups of four by figuring out the links between them. The groups could be things like items you can click, names for research study participants or words preceded by a body part.Theres only one solution for each puzzle, and youll need to be careful when it comes to words that might fit into more than one category. You can shuffle the words to perhaps help you see links between them.Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to figure out, blue and green fall in the middle, and the purple group is usually the most difficult one. The purple group often involves wordplay.Select four words you think go together and press Submit. If you make a guess and youre incorrect, youll lose a life. If youre close to having a correct group, you might see a message telling you that youre one word away from getting it right, but youll still need to figure out which one to swap.If you make four mistakes, its game over. Lets make sure that doesnt happen with the help of some hints, and, if youre really struggling, todays Connections answers. As with Wordle and other similar games, its easy to share results with your friends on social media and group chats.If you have an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the publications Connections archive. This includes every previous game of Connections, so you can go back and play any of those that you have missed.Aside from the first 60 games or so, you should be able to find my hints for each grid via Google if you need them! Just click here and add the date of the game for which you need clues or the answers to the search query.What Are Todays Connections Hints?Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of todays Connections groups, Ill reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.Todays 16 words are...STATSCROWNABBOTTELEMENTARYNUNKEYDOMEABBALAURELMONKCOCONUTFRYSKULLBONESKAYAKKOJAKAnd the hints for todays Connections groups are:Yellow group Green group the same both waysBlue group detective dramasPurple group one half of a humorous wholeWhat Are Todays Connections Groups?Need some extra help?Be warned: were starting to get into spoiler territory.Todays Connections groups are...Yellow group slang for headGreen group palindromesBlue group police proceduralsPurple group first in a comedy duoWhat Are Todays Connections Answers?Spoiler alert! Dont scroll any further down the page until youre ready to find out todays Connections answers.This is your final warning!Todays Connections answers are...Yellow group slang for head (COCONUT, CROWN, DOME, SKULL)Green group palindromes (ABBA, KAYAK, NUN, STATS)Blue group police procedurals (BONES, ELEMENTARY, KOJAK, MONK)Purple group first in a comedy duo (ABBOTT, FRY, KEY, LAUREL)My short two-game streak came crashing to a halt. Here's how I fared:I did enjoy the Abbott Elementary reference on the top line. What a good show that is.I got the greens pretty quickly, but was then one away from a group with a guess of CROWN, MONK, BONES and KOJAK. I realized my mistake a moment too late. ELEMENTARY is also a detective show but CROWN isnt (its The Crown, anyway), so I made that swap to get the blues.I then tried a guess of LAUREL, CROWN, SKULL and DOME as in things that go on top. I was one away. My next guess was a bad one. I figured they were religious emblems(?), but it fundamentally didnt make sense as I included both LAUREL and DOME (both of which were in a one-away guess) with KEY and ABBOTT. I swapped out LAUREL for SKULL but to no avail.I was pretty annoyed not to get this one! I had an inkling early on that there might be something to do with comedy double acts given ABBOTT and LAUREL. The head thing didnt really click for me at all, as much as it should have.The comedy duos referenced are ABBOTT and Costello, FRY and Laurie, KEY and Peele and LAUREL and Hardy.Thats all there is to it for todays Connections clues and answers. Be sure to check my blog tomorrow for hints and the solution for Mondays game if you need them.P.S. Im planning to go to a bunch of shows in early 2025. The first of those will be a Sum 41 gig. The band are calling it a day, so this will be the only time that I ever see them live.Im looking forward to it! I liked them a lot back in the day, and In Too Deep is one of the pop-punk songs of the early 2000s. That guitar solo and how its given the spotlight in the video will forever remain iconic in my mind:Have a great day! Call someone you love!If youre so inclined, please do follow my blog for more coverage of Connections and other word games and even some video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me out a lot! Also, follow me on Bluesky! Its fun there.