How often do Connections entries recur?
Original FiveLetterWords analysis. Period: 2023-06-12 to 2026-10-02. This fixed study covers the main edition.
By FiveLetterWords. Updated .
The archive examined
This census covers 1,209 recorded main-edition puzzles from 2023-06-12 through 2026-10-02: 19,344 card appearances. All included dates were complete worldwide; no date is missing inside this captured period.
What repeats
After the stated normalization, the archive contains 8,715 distinct entries. Of these, 3,565 appear more than once. The chart counts distinct entries, rather than the number of puzzle appearances; its final band combines five or more appearances.
Labels are not word senses
3,479 normalized entries occur under more than one exact category label. That establishes variation in the recorded labels. It does not establish a changed word sense, deliberate publisher strategy, player confusion or puzzle difficulty.
| Appearances | Entries |
|---|---|
| 1 | 5150 |
| 2 | 1443 |
| 3 | 735 |
| 4 | 410 |
| 5 or more | 977 |
Explore repeated entries
3,565 of 8,715 distinct entries appeared at least twice.
The denominator is distinct entries in this captured period, not puzzles or players. The final band combines five or more appearances.
Method and limits
Every recorded main-edition puzzle from 2023-06-12 through 2026-10-02, after worldwide completion; no player submissions or Sports/Soccer editions.
NFKD/casefold; strip combining marks; punctuation becomes spaces; collapse whitespace. Display originals are retained.
Category labels are compared as recorded, without semantic merging. Publisher group colors, computed spelling features and player behavior are different measures. This study uses no player behavior or inferred mechanism tags.
- Different category labels do not prove different senses.
- Source corrections can change counts; retain this exact snapshot.
- Picture descriptions are counted as labels and can differ from visible image recognition.
- This is an archive census, not player difficulty or representative solve statistics.
- Only aggregate counts are downloadable here. Raw puzzle boards and entry-level source-derived tables are not redistributed by this study.
- No independently double-annotated semantic tags or player outcomes are included.
Source: recorded official NYT Connections puzzle facts, retained in the frozen operator snapshot. This independent study does not redistribute publisher boards or claim publisher endorsement.
Reproduce or cite this result
Using an independently permitted snapshot in the existing schema: python scripts/connections_programme.py --through 2026-10-02 --source /path/to/connections.json --output /tmp/connections-reproduction. Compare snapshot_id, source_hash and method_hash; the exact method copies accompany this release.
- Aggregate results and limitations (JSON)
- Chart values and denominator (CSV)
- Chart (SVG)
- Exact analysis source and normalization dependency
- Artifact checksums
Citation: FiveLetterWords, “How often do Connections entries recur?”, fixed main-edition census through 2026-10-02, method connections-recurrence-v1.
Snapshot identity and correction history
- Snapshot
- 99924e9b8544f5f41e79c4fe6fcc88a15ef1b406da21563811b6a6c16875e93f
- Source hash
- 85a278a5f0b10a180b87c044f640ea70e30d5204b64eb63f019ca8c1df097844
- Method hash
- 282c60761075f6a86c8382f1d6c595af2e8330885d9b2ce048fb78a8727cdd0a
No correction has been applied to this frozen result. A material correction requires a separately identified revision; the retained original must remain reproducible.