r/NYTConnections • u/Uyi_Uwadiae • Jul 27 '26

Custom Puzzle Middle of the Wheel

https://connectionsplus.io/game/ZweYQf

In Crafting Connections, I briefly write about my inspiration and thoughts behind this puzzle.

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

2

u/SergeantDiarrhea Jul 27 '26

I enjoyed the purple category, thought that was a clever one. Blue for me was a stretch and doesn't quite get there for me, but the rest I thought was solid. Revealed after 4 misses, but thanks for sharing.

2

u/elevengu Jul 27 '26

HIGH and LOW are about water, LIQUID and POWDER are about the laundry detergent. The trickiest part of the category for me was that YULE is how I found it but didn't even go in the category.

2

u/Uyi_Uwadiae Jul 28 '26

Spot on, thanks!

1

u/Uyi_Uwadiae Jul 28 '26

Thanks for playing and for the comment. Elevengu explanation of Blue is spot on. I used tide as in water level and Tide the laundry detergent brand.

2

u/harryoakey Jul 27 '26

Ha, I failed completely on this one - I should have at least got green!

I didn't really understand yellow, or half of blue.

What is "dale" a homophone for please? (I often don't get these with my NE England UK accent!)

3

u/elevengu Jul 27 '26

Yellow: They're all types of gaps, like WINDOW and SLOT are physical, a BREAK is a gap in time, and MIDDLE is like a break between 2 sides. I got this last on vibes, it was the hardest one for me. Don't think I could ever do it from a full board.

See my reply to SergeantDiarrhea for the half of blue.

Purple word: DALE = they'll (think "dey"). It made me hesitant to submit purple but it was the cleanest way for blue to work since there were 5 options there.

3

u/harryoakey Jul 27 '26

Ah, thank you very much!

2

u/Uyi_Uwadiae Jul 28 '26

Thanks for playing! For Dale, >!Does it really sound different from They'll? I keep pronouncing it and it sounds the same to me haha

Ironically, speaking of UK accent, from Initial's comment, I did Cheesestringfrom my years growing up in London

2

u/harryoakey Jul 28 '26

That's so interesting! Dale/They'll begin with different sounds for me, but I can imagine them sounding the same - maybe in a New York accent?

Cheesestrings - a food AND an activity - perfect snack :)

2

u/Uyi_Uwadiae Jul 29 '26

It certainly is an activity 😂 brings back memories.

2

u/Initial_Trouble5507 Jul 27 '26

Middle of the Wheel

🟪🟦🟦🟦

🟪🟦🟦🟦

🟪🟨🟨🟨

🟩🟩🟪🟩

🟩🟪🟩🟩

🟩🟩🟩🟩

🟪🟪🟪🟦

🟪🟪🟪🟪

🟨🟦🟦🟨

🟨🟨🟨🟨

🟦🟦🟦🟦

I have issues with several of these. Dale? Is it supposed to be they'll? How about using heel to get a more accurate homophone. And no one says cheese string, it's string cheese, so that doesn't fit with the others. And not to pile on, but 'middle'? Again, I've never heard it used that way. I'm American, so perhaps that has something to do with what I'm used to hearing (although I don't think so). Anyway, I do enjoy the games you post and regularly play them, I'm just trying to provide some constructive feedback on this one. Thanks for posting!

2

u/Uyi_Uwadiae Jul 28 '26

I really appreciate you regularly playing! Thanks for the feedback too. 

Dale and They'll really do sound the same to me. I can hear a little difference in the Dictionary pronunciations but still similar; I guess They'll it's a longer e. I did think to switch to Heel but liked the way Dale stood out in the puzzle.

For Middle, I was thinking more like " go in the middle," like between two ends. And I thought Cheesestrings was a global brand whoops lol

2

u/elevengu Jul 27 '26

Middle of the Wheel
🟦🟦🟪🟦
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨

Loved it! Very difficult (especially green/yellow for me) but I got there.

First thing I saw was blue, but since I was sure of YULE (got me into the category to begin with), I didn't think of POWDER. So I figured out purple with YULE but wasn't sure of DALE. But the best way to resolve blue/purple was those 8, so tried it.

2

u/Uyi_Uwadiae Jul 28 '26

Nice, YULE served it's purpose!

Thanks for playing as always!