Connectrade (OEC)
Rate itConnections with trade data: group the products by the country that exports them.
on oec.world
Connectrade is a daily puzzle from the Observatory of Economic Complexity, a trade data site. A board of sixteen export products, such as crude petroleum, bananas, cassava or molluscs, hides four countries' top exports, and you pick four products at a time to group them by country, with six mistakes allowed.
About Connectrade (OEC)
Connectrade takes the Connections format and fills it with trade data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), the economics site that maps what every country buys and sells. Its heading puts the task simply: group each country's exports. The board shows sixteen traded products, and each set of four belongs together because they are among one country's main exports.
You select four products and press Submit. A correct group is matched to its country; a wrong one costs one of your six hearts, and the game tells you when you were one product off. Each guess is listed under the board. A board can mix very different economies: one day put Djibouti, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Turkey and Trinidad and Tobago side by side, so crude petroleum, ammonia, bananas, cement, rice and sheep all had to go to the right place.
An Easy switch under the board names the day's four countries; turn it off to find them yourself. A stats button keeps your results. The game is free in the browser and plays as a guest, with an optional OEC sign-in, and the page shows a display ad below the board. It suits players of Tradle and Connections, and anyone curious about what countries sell to the world.
How to play Connectrade (OEC)
- Look over the sixteen export products on the board, and the day's four countries if Easy mode is on.
- Pick four products you think are the top exports of the same country.
- Press Submit: a right group is matched to its country, a wrong one costs one of your six hearts, and a near miss is shown as one off.
- Use Clear to deselect, and keep grouping until every country's exports are found.
Screenshots
Tips
- Start with products tied to one resource or climate, such as oil and gas or tropical crops.
- Chemicals like ammonia and methanol derivatives often come from the same gas-rich country as its petroleum.
- Products that could fit two countries are best left until the obvious groups are gone.
- Turn Easy off once you know the format, so the countries themselves are part of the puzzle.
Questions
Who makes Connectrade?
The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), the trade data site at oec.world, which also publishes Pick 5.
How many mistakes can I make?
Six, shown as hearts under the board.
Is it like NYT Connections?
It uses the same idea of sorting sixteen items into groups of four, but the items are export products and each group is one country.
Is there an easier mode?
Yes. The Easy switch under the board shows the names of the day's four countries.
Do I need an account?
No. The daily plays as a guest; an OEC sign-in is optional.
Ratings and reviews
Games like Connectrade (OEC)
Tradle
Guess a country from a chart of its exports in six guesses: the same trade data, one country at a time
Pick 5 (OEC)
OEC's other daily trade puzzle: name the top five exporters of the day's product
GeoConnections (Geotrivia)
Group sixteen flags, shapes and facts by the country they belong to, much as Connectrade groups exports
Geo Connections
Sort sixteen flags, maps and places into four groups of four
Connections
The New York Times puzzle Connectrade takes its format from: sixteen words, four groups, four mistakes
Flag Connections (Flagdoku)
Sort sixteen flags into groups of four that each share something with the Flag of the Day
Geonections
Sort sixteen locations into four groups of four, Connections-style.
Daily Ceteris
One economics question a day, answered with a country in six guesses.