Move over Wordle, a new mini-game is sweeping the nation as one of the most fun and frustrating time passers.

You’ve met her older sister, Wordle, but have you met Connections?

In this day and age, you probably have, because Connections is taking over Beaver Area High School.

“Connection is my life—I do it every single day. Live, laugh, love, New York Times,” said senior Jordan Lohry.

Like Wordle, Connections is a game hosted by the New York Times. The game resets each day, so each morning at 12 a.m. a new puzzle is available.

To play the game, a player is presented with 16 different words. At first these words might not seem to relate, but there are four hidden categories that require four “connecting” words, hence the name Connections.

The four categories range from straightforward to super tricky while also being color coded easy to hard from yellow, to green, to blue, to purple.

“Connections is the best part of my day. It makes me joyous in a way I never knew I could be. Anytime I get the Connections, I feel like Einstein,” said super smart senior Delaney Thomas.

Why might Delaney feel like Einstein when she wins Connections? Probably because the game can be a pain most days.

Of course the game is meant to trick you, but some categories are just outright insane.

Some of these insane categories tend to cause uproar when they result in a loss.

For an example, a few times the category has been something super simple such as color or animal, but it’s really not as simple as that. Connections has made categories harder such as “Colors but the first letter is changed” or “Animals spelled backwards.”

The hardest part about these trick categories is it’s almost impossible to get them as the first guess, second guess, or even third guess. The trick categories are usually guessed last because they are just so obscure.

Nonetheless, Connections remains very popular. Beaver Area students still play most puzzles because, frankly, it’s just fun to pull out when class is slow.

“Nothing passes time in AP classes better than Connections . . . ” said slacking senior Gracie Turyan.

Have you played Connections today? If not, maybe it’s time to get connected with Connections.