We’ve launched a beta of Connections Bot, a new robotic companion to Connections. Want to know what it is and how it works? You’re in the right place.

What is Connections Bot?

It’s a tool that provides a daily, personalized analysis of your Connections game. Each day, the bot shows the difficulty of that day’s puzzle, and how your guesses compared with everyone else’s. It also computes a measure of your skill each day.

Because the bot knows how millions of people played Connections, it can calculate how tricky a puzzle was, which categories were easiest or hardest to find, and what the most common incorrect guesses were.

It can also tell you how your guesses compared with those of other players in a similar situation at every step in the game, and how distinct your solution to the puzzle was. (There are about 2.6 million different ways to solve Connections each day, so your guesses can literally be one in a million!)

How does the bot measure my skill?

The bot calculates your skill based on the number of categories you found, the number of mistakes you made, and the order in which you found the categories. The highest score is 99 points, which involves winning without any mistakes, and solving purple first, blue second, green third and yellow last; doing all those things consistently can be quite challenging.

Of course, many players aren’t trying to minimize mistakes or solve in a specific order every day, and may not care about playing competitively.

But, overall, the skill score can summarize how you fared today compared with other players. You can find the rubric for the skill score here:

This scoring system is partly inspired by our colleague Peter Blair’s system.

Can it help me get better at Connections?

Over time, yes. While Connections is based partly on knowledge, it’s also based on deduction and pattern recognition. Connections Bot can help you identify recurring types of connections — like “fill in the blank” or homophones — so you can keep them in your mental toolbox. The bot will also flag guesses where you didn’t fully use the game’s “one away” hints. And it will let you know if you noticed or fell for a red herring, which can help you get better at avoiding mistakes in future games.

Where can I find Connections Bot?

You can find a link to Connections Bot in the Connections Companion, a daily Times article with hints and comments. You can also find Connections Bot by searching nytimes.com and The New York Times News apps.

Visit Connections Bot after you’ve finished Connections, win or lose. If you visit the Bot and you haven’t played that day’s Connections yet, it’ll prompt you to play first.

Do I need a Times account for Connections Bot to work?

Yes, and you’ll need to be logged in when playing Connections and visiting Connections Bot for the bot to analyze your game.

Where do the A.I.-powered guesses come from?

Each day, we compile a list of the most common mistakes and ask a generative A.I. tool to guess the category that players may have been thinking of. In accordance with The Times’s principles for using generative A.I., Times editors review all A.I.-generated responses before they’re published and may lightly edit some for clarity and style.

What do these grids of colors mean?

The order of colors in each grid shows the sequence in which the categories were found. For example, in the image below, 15 percent of players found yellow, then green, then blue, then purple. Similarly, 11 percent of players found yellow and then green, but did not find any other categories.

The color order grids are hidden by default. They can be toggled on the slide that shows the difficulty of each category.

How does Connections Bot compare with WordleBot, the robotic companion for Wordle?

We think of Connections Bot and WordleBot as cousins. Because Connections and Wordle have different rules and gameplay, each bot analyzes its game in a different way.

Some players use WordleBot to help them recognize words or letters that are the most useful in various situations. With its calculations, WordleBot shows the most efficient choice in each step of solving.

In Connections, there’s no way to use math or even artificial intelligence to reliably solve the game, so Connections Bot doesn’t place as much emphasis on learning to play efficiently. Still, there is logic and structure to the game that Connections Bot can help you identify over time.

When it comes to their personalities, Connections Bot prefers a space in its name, is a bit friendlier, and has newer sneakers.

How do I share an idea or question about Connections Bot?

We’d love to hear your ideas and feedback in the comments section of this article!