Categories
Rate itSort sixteen words into four hidden groups of four.
on categories.clevergoat.com
Categories is CleverGoat's daily grouping game. Sixteen words sit in a grid, and you pick them out four at a time to find the four categories that link them, before your mistakes run out. Each puzzle is numbered, and a new one appears at midnight New York time.
About Categories
Categories is one of the daily games on CleverGoat, a small site of word, logic and chess puzzles that launched in June 2024. The site describes it simply: there are four groups of four, and you have to find them all.
Each day's puzzle has a number and the same sixteen words for everyone. The groups mix plain sets, such as red fruits or extinct animals, with wordplay, such as words that complete a blank phrase or surnames from a film series. Every group has a colour. You select four words and submit them; a wrong guess costs one of your lives, and the game records how many you had left and the order in which you solved the groups.
It plays much like Connections from The New York Times, so it suits anyone who wants a second grouping puzzle each day. Beyond the daily grid, CleverGoat also has community-made puzzles and puzzle packs, and you can compare your results with friends if you sign in.
How to play Categories
- Open Categories to see the day's sixteen words.
- Choose four words you think share a category.
- Submit them: a right group is revealed with its colour and name, a wrong one costs a life.
- Keep going until all four groups are found or your lives run out.
- Compare your result, lives left and solve order, with other players or friends.
Screenshots
Tips
- Look for words that fit more than one group before you commit; the decoys are usually there on purpose.
- Fill-in-the-blank groups often hide among ordinary words, so try putting a word before or after each one.
- Shuffle the grid when you are stuck; new neighbours can make a link stand out.
- Solve the group you are surest of first to shrink the board.
- Use the arrow buttons under the board to go back and play earlier numbered puzzles.
Questions
When does a new Categories puzzle appear?
At midnight New York time. The countdown on the site runs to midnight in the America/New_York time zone.
Is Categories the same as Connections?
No. It is a separate game from CleverGoat with the same idea: sixteen words, four groups of four.
Do I need an account?
No. An account lets you add friends and compare results, but the daily puzzle plays without one.
Are there more puzzles than the daily one?
Yes. CleverGoat also offers community-made puzzles and puzzle packs.
Does Categories have ads?
Yes. The free game shows ads around the board, and CleverGoat sells a Remove Ads option that takes them away.
Ratings and reviews
Games like Categories
Connections
The New York Times puzzle Categories is modelled on: sixteen words, four groups, four mistakes.
Stacked
CleverGoat's own grouping puzzle with a twist: groups of one to five words instead of four fours.
Groups·16 (doce.games)
Another daily board of sixteen words in four hidden groups, with four mistakes allowed.
Grouple
Sixteen words to sort into four groups each day, a close match for a second daily grid.
PuzzGrid
Only Connect style walls of sixteen clues, sorted into four groups against the clock.
Sort and Solve
Sort 16 words into four hidden groups before your lives run out, just as here.
4×3
A different take on hidden categories: four groups of three plus one word shared by all four.
Categlorious
Four categories, three words each, and one link word shared by all of them.