Many people are learning the religious definition of “Prior” thanks to today’s NYT Connections groups

Happy Sunday, puzzlers! We're 100 percent ready for football. It's week one of the NFL season, but maybe that's not your thing, especially if you're a 9-year-old who's totally into the Minecraft movie. And if you're older and still into the Minecraft movie, that's great too! However you feel, just don't be a jerk about it, you know?

Anyway. Your daily sweet 16 words are back and waiting for your best grouping efforts. The New York Times' popular Connections Brainbuster has four groups of words with a common theme or commonality, but they're shuffled in random order for you to figure them out. Remember to take your time — many words have multiple meanings, so think twice before you click.

Words of the day: FROST, BEACH, PUMP, POPE, RACE, BISHOP, PET SHOP, POUND, HARDY, BEAT, BEFORE, BAKE, POLLEN, BAD, PREHEAT, And PASTOR

NYT Connections Yellow Group Note

Above is a visual clue for today's yellow group. Maybe it's just right for you? If you're still scratching your head, well, I'm sorry to break it to you, but yellow is the easiest group.

Need a verbal clue? These are all words you would hear Betty Crocker say if Betty Crocker were a real person. (She wasn't – sorry to break your illusion.)

Give up? Honestly, we can't blame you. Some of the yellow and green words were way too close together for comfort today. Yellow is supposed to be the easy group, so let's say dirty play in the New York Times…

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Today’s answer from the yellow group is Verbs in a cake recipe and his words are BAKING, BEATING, SPIRITING, And PREHEAT

NYT Connections Blue Group Note

Here's your visual cue for today's blue group. It might be your eureka moment. (No, sorry, that wasn't a cue.) Or maybe it didn't help at all. Hey, let's try it.

Time for the verbal hint: Today, Sunday, is the day you are most likely to see one of these.

No? We got the first three of them in a hurry, but the fourth was a real surprise. Luckily, it didn't fit into any of the other categories…

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Today’s answer from the blue group is Ecclesiastical titles and his words are BISHOP, POPE, And BEFORE

NYT Connections Green Group Note

We're going to go out on a limb and say that's a pretty powerful visual cue. Will it get you to the finish line? That's the catch – you still have to find the right words.

Do you need the verbal cue too? These things happen at the gym, on a date, or during a horror movie (especially after a jump scare).

Give up? You'll understand what we mean when we say that the green and yellow categories are unusually nasty today…

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Today’s response from the Green Group is What a heart does when it is excited and his words are PUMP, PUMP, RACE, And THROWING

NYT Connections Purple Group Note

The purple group is the most difficult, so don't be upset if this visual clue doesn't immediately lead you to the promised land.

Here's your verbal clue: There's a movie, two bands, and, depending on your taste, either a book series or a legendary wrestling tag team.

Give up? Today was one of those weird days where we actually got the purple group first. All our pop culture knowledge finally came in handy…

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Today’s answer from the purple group is ___ boys and his words are BAD, BEACH, HARDY, And PETSHOP

This concludes your Connectionshints weekend – see you next Saturday!

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