Word Groups
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About This Game
Play Word Groups free online - sort 16 words into 4 hidden groups. A daily word association puzzle in the style of Connections. Shareable results.
How to play Word Groups
Objective: Sort all sixteen words into their four hidden groups of four before you use up your four mistakes.
The board shows sixteen words in a four-by-four grid. They belong to four secret categories, and every category has exactly four words. Tap words to select them; a selected word turns purple. You can pick up to four at once, and tapping a selected word again removes it. The Submit button activates only when you have exactly four words chosen. Correct groups lock in as colored bars showing their category label and words.
A wrong guess costs one mistake, tracked by four dots below the grid. If three of your four words belong to the same category, the game says 'So close - one away!' so you know one pick is wrong. Four mistakes ends the round: the game reveals all four groups and resets your streak to zero. Solve all four groups to win, which adds to your total solved and extends your streak.
Three buttons help you work. Shuffle rearranges the remaining words to break patterns your eyes have locked onto. Deselect clears your current picks in one tap. After the puzzle ends, Next Puzzle loads a fresh board. Your solved count and streak show at the top and are saved in your browser between visits. The starting puzzle is tied to the calendar date, so everyone opening the game the same day gets the same board from the ten in rotation.
Tips and strategy
Save the obvious group
You might spot one category instantly, like the four planets MARS, VENUS, SATURN and NEPTUNE. That group is safe to lock, but some boards hide a near-twin. When a word on the board could sit in two of the groups, solve the other groups first and let the forced leftovers settle the rest.
Read the one-away hint
When you see 'So close - one away!', three of your four words share a category and one is wrong. Keep the three that feel strongest, swap only the weakest single word, and resubmit instead of rebuilding the group.
Hunt overlap traps
Some boards seat a word right next to a group it does not join. On the chess board, KING and QUEEN read like royal titles, yet the titles group is PRINCE, DUKE, EARL and BARON and the pair locks into chess pieces. On the colors board, OLIVE pulls you toward the vegetables but belongs with the colors. Fill the safer group's four slots first to force the trap word home.
Spot fill-in-blank groups
Some categories are patterns like '___ ball' or '___ pepper' rather than plain themes. If four words all pair with the same trailing word, that shared word is the category, not the words' literal meaning.
Frequently asked questions
How many guesses do I get?
You get four mistakes total, shown as four dots under the grid. Each wrong submission fills one dot red. Correct guesses never cost a mistake, so you can submit as many right groups as you find. The fourth wrong guess ends the round and reveals every group.
Is there a timer?
No. Word Groups has no timer, countdown, or speed pressure. You can study the sixteen words as long as you want before selecting, and the only limit is your four allowed mistakes. Test each category in your head before you submit.
What does 'So close - one away!' mean?
It appears when exactly three of your four selected words belong to the same category and the fourth does not. It still counts as a mistake, but tells you the group is nearly right. Replace only the single odd word instead of rethinking all four.
Do my streak and solved count save?
Yes. Both are stored in your browser, so they stay when you return. Solving a puzzle adds one to solved and raises your streak. Running out of guesses leaves solved unchanged but resets streak to zero, so a single loss ends a run.
Is the puzzle the same for everyone?
The board you start with is chosen by the calendar date, so anyone opening the game the same day gets the same puzzle from the pool of ten. After finishing, Next Puzzle steps you through the rest of the rotation regardless of date.