The popularity of the Wordle game had some saying that The New York Times had morphed into a gaming company instead of a news organization.
I’ve never been a Wordle player myself, but I am in love with another one of the Times’ games, Connections. Every day, you are given 16 individual words and up to four chances to create four sets of four. Sometimes the connections are straightforward, like “Ball, Bone, Frisbee, Stick” (things a dog can fetch) or “Arrival, Destination, Flight, Gate” (airport board info). But often, it really makes me think, such as “Almanac, Insurance, Market, Tan” (farmers’ things) or “Airplane, Black, Hot Tub Nozzle, NFL Player” (What “Jet” might refer to). There are times when it annoys me, like when they throw in “Fowl, Mien, Offal, Vial” (homophones of synonyms of despicable), but mostly it provides a brief stimulus to engage my brain in the morning.
Maybe I like Connections because essentially, that’s what leadership dots is — seeing how paint investigations connect to supervision (dot #4669) or puppy training connects to tips for onboarding employees (dot #4670), etc. Give it a try and see if it helps train your brain to see other connections in your world. (Free on the New York Times app — no subscription required)
