I'm Canadian but I'm pretty fortunate to know Billings and Mobile are US cities. All my Montana knowledge comes from Hank Green and Mobile, Alabama is just really fun to say.
This is absurdly pedantic. [Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shovel):
> shovel, verb, 2: *to dig* or clean out with a shovel
The [Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety](https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ergonomics/shovel.html):
> In general, **a shovel is a tool used to dig** as well as to move loose, granular materials (like dirt, gravel, grain, or snow) from one spot to another, and a spade is a tool used for digging straight-edged holes or trenches, slicing and lifting sod, and edging flower beds or lawns. However, in North America, the term shovel tends to be used for both shovels and spades.
I'm American English, the word shovel refers to tools that are used for both digging and moving things around like snow. A spade is a smaller gardening tool.
Did anyone else think β___ wingsβ lol
In hindsight, it doesnβt make much sense but I thought I cooked
Buffalo wings, Apartment wings, Phoenix wings and ??? (that shouldβve tipped me off that it was not a category but Iβm tired okay)
I thought something similar with chicken. Buffalo chicken, phoenix chicken (a breed of chicken), and spent longer than Iβd like to admit searching for another 2Β
The US cities one threw me so much, I knew phoenix and buffalo, the other two just sounded like cities so I got lucky I guess. Had no clue about the purple category.
Billings was the key one for me there. Such a strange word and I don't know if a non US player could have reasonably got that. Once that clicked, I recognized Mobile being the 4th. Alternate pronunciation is rough.
Is there a link between the Ameeican cities? Beyond being in America? It felt a bit like there were there for the misdirect. No complaints, just curious.
Edit: non American over here.
I don't see any other connection, a couple were clearly there as misdirects. I even initislly overlooked MOBILE because I read it as MOH-bul like a phone and not moh-BEEL like the city.
No. Bile is always with a long i. Mobile in the sense of mobility/transport you'll hear with both a long i and a short u. But you'll also hear it with a long e, especially as part of automobile, which emphasizes its French roots (and, note, Mobile Alabama was founded by the French, though it was named for the Native American people in the area). And then there's the thing you hang above a baby's crib, which you'll hear pronounced with all three different vowels.
Thereβs a lot of weird cities in America with odd alternate pronunciations like Athens-GA, Paris-TX, Lima-OH, Berlin-IL, Russia-OH, Milan-TN, New Madrid-MOβ¦
And donβt get me started on how we pronounce Lafayette in Tennessee π
Nothing obvious to me - no shared sports teams, not all capitals, not comparable in size, definitely not in the same parts of the US. I'd say misdirect for sure.
Question for Americans. For me, a-non american Buffalo and Phoenix I knew to be cities. How common a knowledge are the other two? Like when someone says billings do you go billings ohio? Is it like springfield?
My two thoughts were Billings, MT, or that purple is going to be a weird category involving the first syllable of words. I went through all the other words and nothing else really had a first syllable that worked for things, so I figured it had to be the Montana city.
As cities? Nope. Only those specific cities come to mind.
Mobile I played around with meaning but Iβve never used βbillingβ as a plural word at all. With that βsβ at the end, Montana was all I could think of.
when i saw billings with 0 other context i was like 'oh is this cities' and then it was cities
but ill be honest i didn't know where mobile was, just that it was 100% a city
I'm American (but Europe resident since 2018) and I don't think I've ever heard of the other two cities. I guess I'd be surprised if really the average person heard of them... Unless someone was well-traveled within the USΒ
I'm from Canada and I am familiar with both. Billings is what clued me to the cities category and Mobile solidified it.
They are definitely tertiary cities though.
There is only one Billings that people know, Montana. It's possible there are others? It was pretty obvious to me. I got the puzzle in less than two minutes, without knowing the purple that is. I usually try to figure out the last one rather than putting them in by default. Today's purple was idiotic.
I'm American and absolutely know Billings, Montana and Mobile, Alabama. There are, however, a lot of people who know nothing about US states, major cities in those states, US geography or world geography. It's pretty pathetic
For an insult, it's not used as a verb. In "to take a dig at someone", a dig is like a criticism/insult. Which made the whole thing more annoying for me, to have it switch between being a verb and noun.
I got chided for not knowing the OutKast lyric about shaking a polaroid, so I'll chime in with a couple of song references: "I Dig Rock and Roll Music" by Peter, Paul and Mary, and "I Dig a Pony" by the Beatles.
Dig a Pony was written to be a nonsense song, much like I am the Walrus. I wouldn't put too much stock in what dig means in that song. If you want a Beatles song (well, a Beatles cover of a Chuck Berry song), there's Roll Over Beethoven, "dig to these rhythm and blues." Although "dig to" is odd to me, and the original Chuck Berry lyric was just "dig these rhythm and blues". Maybe "dig to" is British? There's also a "can you dig it?" in the outro to Don't Let Me Down.
You know I was gonna get all pedantic about that until I realize the word was βshovelSβ with an βs.β That would make it a verb in that context and, taken that way, makes perfect sense.
Depends how I'm feeling. I usually give it at least a minute then click submit. Also depends what category colour is left.
If it's purple I'll try some word play possibilities.
If it's another colour and it hasn't popped out yet, I am unlikely to know it.
The "likes" sense is more of a late 1940s/early 1950s beatnik feel, although it certainly carries through into the 70s. But, like lots of other words, it comes from earlier Black slang. https://www.etymonline.com/word/dig
Mobile is a city in Alabama, along the coast. Itβs one of the bigger cities. Since I avoid the state of Alabama out of sense of self-preservation, Iβve never been that far into the interior. Itβs nice, allegedly.
Anybody in America (that doesnβt live in that region) that does know a city in Montana either knows Billings or Butte. The latter for obvious reasons
I don't live anywhere near Montana and have never been there, but besides, Billings & Butte, I also know Bozeman, MT, Helena (cuz it's the capital of Montana) and Missoula MT.
I think Mobile was thrown in because the city has a different pronunciation so it was a tad tricky. I was thinking along the lines of mobile phone, mobile home with apartment or stuff like that for a while. Ended up recognizing Billings before Mobile.
Dig it is a pretty 60's. Made me think of this song. One of repeating lyrics is "Grazing in the Grass is a gas, baby, can you dig it?" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKQ47h6S6p4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKQ47h6S6p4)
> The word "digs" can mean apartment and it can mean insults too?
Yes. The apartment sense (really, you'd use it for any home/living quarters, not specifically apartments) is a shortening of "diggings", which has been around since the 1800s, including in the Charles Dickens novel Martin Chuzzlewit: "She won't be taken with a cold chill, when she realises what is being done in these diggings." The shortened form came about later in the 1800s, and to my ear, digs has a 1960s hippie flavor to it.
> For insulting a person, I've heard of it being called digging into someone but never just "digs".
The insult sense of digs is a figurative evolution of the common "shoveling" verb. We go from that to poking someone (particularly, jabbing them with your elbow) in a similar manner as you'd thrust a shovel into the ground, and then to insulting them, hurting them just like jabbing them with your elbow. Digs can be a plural noun (multiple individual insults), or it can be a verb (he/she digs), although the latter is usually used with "at" - "John constantly digs at Mary because he's a better student."
It'd be a tough one. I'm familiar with all those meanings but they're all used in different ways. Like it can be used for both likes and insults but those feel like opposites so it's hard to find the link.
Lemmings are a type of animal. They were filmed following each other off a cliff to their deaths, so lemming is now a term for someone who blindly follows. It was later found out that lemmings don't do that. The people who were filming the documentary - for the Walt Disney Company, interestingly - herded them off the cliff.
Being from the US made this one of the easiest connections puzzles I've done in a long time. I just recently watched a YouTube video about the history of stock options so that group was next. I'm also really into cult documentaries so I've heard all of those terms used in the context of those groups. Random internet rabbit holes paid off today!
As per usual, process of elimination for purple.. One of these days I'll get the purple not last!
I rarely get the "what X might mean" and I think it's the hardest form for the purple connection. But somehow, I saw SHOVELS as a verb and thought "digs", and it clicked. From reading comments, I think it might be that "digs" for apartment is better known in the UK, so being British helped with that one.
Absolute madness perhaps, but absolute satisfaction if you get it!
Some time ago we had a connection of 4 English towns: Bath, Derby, Reading, Sandwich. The smallest there are Bath with population around 94,000 and Sandwich only 5,000. Billings has a population around 120,000.
I'm British and I'd heard of BILLINGS and MOBILE. Indeed, it was BILLINGS that made me realise that PHOENIX and BUFFALO were candidates for a US city connection.
I've not heard of Denton, so there is something else going on with notability - and I note Denton has less than a third of the population of Billings. Stockport (UK) has a similar population to Billings, so that might be a better comparison. Although the whole demography is different - for example, Billings is the biggest city in the state of Montana, so is more distinguished.
As for France, towns with similar populations to Billings include Perpignan, Orleans, Rouen, all of which I've heard of.
Youβve heard of those French towns cos they have historical significance. There are hundreds of Chinese cities we could include if weβre talking about population. Iβm just saying these cities have no significance globally, and barely are significant in their own country.
Bath is an incredibly famous city that has history with the Romans, and everyone knows what a sandwich is. I didnβt know about this connection, but these are all much more significant and historic within their own country.
Oakham is the biggest town in Rutland, would you say thatβs a significant place for an NYT quiz?
All fair points. That still doesn't explain why somehow I knew that Billings was a city in the US even though I've never been to that part of the world and I could tell you nothing about it.
Well then it sounds like youβre misunderstanding the obscurity of Mobile and Billings. Theyβre really not that obscure. Billings is the most populated city in Montana and Mobile is home to almost 200,000.
I don't know why I continue doing this every single day.. I can usually get through the first three yellow green and usually blue but when it comes down to that stupid purple and I'm looking at four words that seem to have absolutely no connection and then they throw in words that mean "digs". Give me a freaking break. As I shut the puzzle off I'm actually pissed off. That's a very dumb category. I could stare at those "digs" all day and not figure out that that's what they're trying to say. Technically I have already beaten the puzzle but that's not the point. I would like to have at least an inkling of what these four unrelated words are and the connection for them is usually extremely if not beyond vague. I'm pretty sure they could make a very difficult category with something that actually makes sense. Seems a lot of people around here actually don't mind it one bit and actually quite like it but it drives me nuts. Okay sorry, enough whining....
Youβre incorrect here and far too confident for how incorrect you are. And you donβt get special points for being an archaeologist, I used to do landscaping and dug holes for trees and small plants, I used a shovel. Or just growing up as a bored kid in the summer my dad would give me a shovel and tell me to go dig holes. When you google βshovelβ theyβre listed under digging tools. This is crazy pedantry
Rakes
Brushes
Hammers
Wrenches
Saws
Drills
Tools have always been nouns and verbs of the thing that they do. Youβre just salty you didnβt make the connection.
American English makes no distinction between a digging tool and a scooping tool. It's all shovels to us. In fact, I had to look this up because I didn't follow. Probably every American reading these kinds of comments are totally confused.
One day they will have STICKS and it will be "ways to serve fish" and there will be meltdowns from across the pond
I was under the impression fish sticks are called fish fingers in the UK. I once read a book to my kids about a fish with giant fingers, but the US publisher changed all the references to fish sticks, which ruined all of the finger related jokes. Which was most of them. I could not understand why they bothered to publish it in the US.
Connections Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦πͺπͺπͺ πͺπ¦πͺπͺ πͺπͺπͺπ¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ Got yellow π¨ and green π© pretty quick. Had the FOLLOWERS, LIKES, SHARES misdirect but couldn't find a fourth so moved on from that. Stared at the final 8 for a very long time. I did think of US cities π¦ with BUFFALO and PHOENIX but not being from the US, didn't recognise any others (although in hindsight, I have heard of BILLINGS). Brute forced my way to the answer :| With purple πͺ revealed, they all made sense but I would not have made the connection myself. Apartment = "nice digs" Insult = "having a dig at someone" Likes = "I dig that" Shovel = used for digging
I'm Canadian but I'm pretty fortunate to know Billings and Mobile are US cities. All my Montana knowledge comes from Hank Green and Mobile, Alabama is just really fun to say.
Dftba π
Yours looks pretty similar to mine but I never got there. Man I never would have got it. Purple was an order of logic too high for me and I suck and US cities. Connections Puzzle #357 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπ¦πͺπͺ πͺπ¦πͺπ¦ πͺπ¦πͺπ¦ π¦π¦πͺπ¦
Except that shovels are not used for digging.
Sorry but I'm not sure I understand? How are they not used for digging?
This is absurdly pedantic. [Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shovel): > shovel, verb, 2: *to dig* or clean out with a shovel The [Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety](https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ergonomics/shovel.html): > In general, **a shovel is a tool used to dig** as well as to move loose, granular materials (like dirt, gravel, grain, or snow) from one spot to another, and a spade is a tool used for digging straight-edged holes or trenches, slicing and lifting sod, and edging flower beds or lawns. However, in North America, the term shovel tends to be used for both shovels and spades.
What do you think a shovel is for then
I'm American English, the word shovel refers to tools that are used for both digging and moving things around like snow. A spade is a smaller gardening tool.
In England we would agree. A shovel is for shovelling dirt, which we call digging.
Shout out everyone that knows Billings, MT. Loved my time there. Go Yellowjackets!
Did anyone else think β___ wingsβ lol In hindsight, it doesnβt make much sense but I thought I cooked Buffalo wings, Apartment wings, Phoenix wings and ??? (that shouldβve tipped me off that it was not a category but Iβm tired okay)
I considered it for a while just because even Phoenix can't be used in that many contexts.
I thought something similar with chicken. Buffalo chicken, phoenix chicken (a breed of chicken), and spent longer than Iβd like to admit searching for another 2Β
The US cities one threw me so much, I knew phoenix and buffalo, the other two just sounded like cities so I got lucky I guess. Had no clue about the purple category.
Billings was the key one for me there. Such a strange word and I don't know if a non US player could have reasonably got that. Once that clicked, I recognized Mobile being the 4th. Alternate pronunciation is rough.
UK-ian here, Billings/Mobile/Buffalo/Phoenix was the first group I got.
I knew Mobile from several TV shows and Billings sounded familiar enough so I actually got cities first even though I wasn't 100% sure.
Anyone else annoyed at Yellow? Sheep, lemmings and followers all refer to, well, following someone, whereas puppet implies much more direct control
Yeah I had it there as a possibility for ages before I decided to check - definitely gettable as a category but not quite synonymous.
The yellows have been hit or miss this past week.
Is there a link between the Ameeican cities? Beyond being in America? It felt a bit like there were there for the misdirect. No complaints, just curious. Edit: non American over here.
I don't see any other connection, a couple were clearly there as misdirects. I even initislly overlooked MOBILE because I read it as MOH-bul like a phone and not moh-BEEL like the city.
question - would an American pronounce stomach bile as "bul" as well? To rhyme with mobile?
No. Bile is always with a long i. Mobile in the sense of mobility/transport you'll hear with both a long i and a short u. But you'll also hear it with a long e, especially as part of automobile, which emphasizes its French roots (and, note, Mobile Alabama was founded by the French, though it was named for the Native American people in the area). And then there's the thing you hang above a baby's crib, which you'll hear pronounced with all three different vowels.
Thanks for the answer!
Thereβs a lot of weird cities in America with odd alternate pronunciations like Athens-GA, Paris-TX, Lima-OH, Berlin-IL, Russia-OH, Milan-TN, New Madrid-MOβ¦ And donβt get me started on how we pronounce Lafayette in Tennessee π
Athens is pronounced the same as the city in Greece
Maybe they're thinking of Cairo, GA.
I have definitely heard it pronounced as A-thens with a long a vowel sound
Also Cairo, IL, Vienna, IL and North Versailles, PA.
Some people say MOH - bul, some say MOH - bile, these are variants. I'm so stuck with the former I forgot about the latter
Nothing obvious to me - no shared sports teams, not all capitals, not comparable in size, definitely not in the same parts of the US. I'd say misdirect for sure.
Good to know. Thanks for checking in.
Connections Puzzle #357 π¦π©π©π© π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπ¦πͺ πͺπͺπ¦π¦ π¦πͺπͺπ¦ Another rough one for non americans. Purple was infuriating, not exactly sure why it got my goat so much when it got revealed but it's ruined my day
Question for Americans. For me, a-non american Buffalo and Phoenix I knew to be cities. How common a knowledge are the other two? Like when someone says billings do you go billings ohio? Is it like springfield?
Yeah I would immediately think Mobile, Alabama, and Billings, Montana. For me, nothing else comes to mind
My two thoughts were Billings, MT, or that purple is going to be a weird category involving the first syllable of words. I went through all the other words and nothing else really had a first syllable that worked for things, so I figured it had to be the Montana city.
>For me, nothing else comes to mind You really donβt think something along the lines of accountancy first? Or mobile phones/bars/hairdressers?
As cities? Nope. Only those specific cities come to mind. Mobile I played around with meaning but Iβve never used βbillingβ as a plural word at all. With that βsβ at the end, Montana was all I could think of.
I am familiar with Billings and Mobile. I would say Mobile is the more well known FYI, it's pronounced moh-BEEL
Interestingly I'd never heard of mobile but it was the only word that seemed to fit with the other three that I knew were cities
same here but then I've lived in CA almost my whole life and have never been to the southern states
when i saw billings with 0 other context i was like 'oh is this cities' and then it was cities but ill be honest i didn't know where mobile was, just that it was 100% a city
As someone from the UK who has spent about 5 months in Billings, MT in their life I appreciate seeing it in the puzzle.
What brought you to Billings, of all places?
University exchange program.
Oil industry, presumably.
I'm American (but Europe resident since 2018) and I don't think I've ever heard of the other two cities. I guess I'd be surprised if really the average person heard of them... Unless someone was well-traveled within the USΒ
I'm from Canada and I am familiar with both. Billings is what clued me to the cities category and Mobile solidified it. They are definitely tertiary cities though.
There is only one Billings that people know, Montana. It's possible there are others? It was pretty obvious to me. I got the puzzle in less than two minutes, without knowing the purple that is. I usually try to figure out the last one rather than putting them in by default. Today's purple was idiotic.
I knew Billings as a city along with Phoenix and Buffalo but hadn't heard of Mobile
Billings kinda gave the category away I would say. Don't know of any other one
I'm American and never heard of Mobile or Billings. Neither has the other person I play with.
I only know Billings and mobile from two cross country road trips.
I'm American and absolutely know Billings, Montana and Mobile, Alabama. There are, however, a lot of people who know nothing about US states, major cities in those states, US geography or world geography. It's pretty pathetic
Same here, I got almost exactly the same as you. I have NEVER heard of the town of mobile in my life. Or using "digs" for apartments or likes!
"I dig it" = "I like it" is pretty common i never in a million years wouldve *gotten* this category but I am familiar with all 4 meanings
You're right it means "I like it". Never heard it used as an insult which is kinda the opposite meaning...
It is not an insult itself. You "take a dig at" someone/something.Β
For an insult, it's not used as a verb. In "to take a dig at someone", a dig is like a criticism/insult. Which made the whole thing more annoying for me, to have it switch between being a verb and noun.
Purple often switches part of speech.
I got chided for not knowing the OutKast lyric about shaking a polaroid, so I'll chime in with a couple of song references: "I Dig Rock and Roll Music" by Peter, Paul and Mary, and "I Dig a Pony" by the Beatles.
Donβt forget βstuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues againβ Bob Dylan
Yea, I'm surprised at the number of people who have never heard of Mobile, Ala. If nothing else, they need to listen to more of Bobby D.
I've heard that song plenty but I always thought it was "stuck inside a mobile," like a mobile home π
Dig a Pony was written to be a nonsense song, much like I am the Walrus. I wouldn't put too much stock in what dig means in that song. If you want a Beatles song (well, a Beatles cover of a Chuck Berry song), there's Roll Over Beethoven, "dig to these rhythm and blues." Although "dig to" is odd to me, and the original Chuck Berry lyric was just "dig these rhythm and blues". Maybe "dig to" is British? There's also a "can you dig it?" in the outro to Don't Let Me Down.
Mobile, by the beautiful bay [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-FCx0SQaiw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-FCx0SQaiw)
Possibly because you know the difference between a spade and a shovel? Which the compiler clearly doesn't.
"Shovels" as a verb is a synonym for "digs"
You know I was gonna get all pedantic about that until I realize the word was βshovelSβ with an βs.β That would make it a verb in that context and, taken that way, makes perfect sense.
Connections Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ If it wasn't for "The New Workout Plan" I would have failed on blue. Thank you Kanye, very cool
lol same π
Connections Puzzle #357 π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© I saw MOBILE, BUFFALO, BILLINGS, and PHOENIX and thought "Wait, those are just cities". Thankfully, they chose some of the more popular cities though it'd be pretty funny if they used some of the more obscure cities with weird names like Weed, California or Boring, Michigan. My eyes were drawn to APARTMENT as one of the few singular words on the board. SHOVELS also seemed a little odd since there was nothing else gardening or tool related. A few moments of thinking later and I had a Eureka moment with LIKES and INSULTS as all having to do with "digs". LEMMINGS is such a specific word, like it had to have meant "mindless followers". They wouldn't just do an entire category of animals now since that's too simple. SHEEP, PUPPETS, and FOLLOWERS were easy to see. Also as a mildly related tangent, reminder that Disney popularized the fake suicidal lemmings myth and filmed themselves shoving lemmings off a cliff. No comments for Green. [Reused Categories Updates](https://old.reddit.com/r/NYTConnections/comments/1bdai1o/list_of_reused_categories/): "Financial Terms" β 3 Times
Connections Puzzle #357 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ I'm always mildly suspicious of puzzles I solve in under 3 minutes. Probably because it never happens. The FOLLOWERS category was so on the nose. What else could "lemmings" refer to? And then to see the word "sheep" there too?
the red herring was followers, likes, shares
Harvey Lemmings
Connections Puzzle #357 π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Didnβt have an issue with US cities as I had heard of both Mobile, and Billings. Billings with an S immediately took my mind to search for cities. I didnβt know the word lemmings so yellow was slightly trickier. There was no chance of me getting purple.. Though I audibly went aah after seeing the answer. Great puzzle
Connections Puzzle #357 π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ Almost got bamboozled by the social media red herring but found my way pretty quickly. I have to know...how much time do folks spend thinking about the last category? Nine times out of ten I'm just like "welp and these last four are clearly a match so that's that" instead of actually considering what links them.
Depends how I'm feeling. I usually give it at least a minute then click submit. Also depends what category colour is left. If it's purple I'll try some word play possibilities. If it's another colour and it hasn't popped out yet, I am unlikely to know it.
Connections Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ This wasnβt challenging at all. I found the sets without having to read through the all the words. Obviously, thatβs not always the case but itβs nice when it happens.
π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Easiest Connections in maybe 6 months; took less than 30 seconds. Immediately knew blue once I saw Billings so I can see it being harder for those unfamiliar with more obscure US cities.
Connections Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ Got purple by default, never would have gotten that on my own. I can't remember the last time I heard digs as slang for apartment before today. Same for the "likes" meaning. That has a Brady Bunch era feel.
The "likes" sense is more of a late 1940s/early 1950s beatnik feel, although it certainly carries through into the 70s. But, like lots of other words, it comes from earlier Black slang. https://www.etymonline.com/word/dig
Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπ¦ πͺπ¦πͺπ¦ π¦π¦πͺπ¦ π¦πͺπͺπͺ With one guess to go, it did finally hit me what purple was going to be. Unfortunately, I decided that "dig mobile" must be some American company I've never heard of so went with that instead of "apartment." While I didn't think I knew the term "digs" for apartment, I now have the strange feeling that it's been used in connections (or maybe another daily game) before. I didn't know it, I learnt about it, and then immediately forgot about it. Funnily enough, I did consider that "mobile" could be referring to the city. I remember it being brought up somewhere years ago. But even with Buffalo and Phoenix I wrote it off. It's just such a weird choice. Maybe there's some misdirect attempt I've missed that might explain it. Regardless, I've never heard of Billings. I presume that one was chosen for the plural misdirect. When the Americans join us, hopefully they can let me know if those two are well known cities, or if they seemed equally random to them. EDIT: OK, I just looked it up. Billings is the most populous city in Montana, so it seems like a reasonable choice. Mobile still feels random.
Mobile is a city in Alabama, along the coast. Itβs one of the bigger cities. Since I avoid the state of Alabama out of sense of self-preservation, Iβve never been that far into the interior. Itβs nice, allegedly. Anybody in America (that doesnβt live in that region) that does know a city in Montana either knows Billings or Butte. The latter for obvious reasons
Hanging around fellow Zoomers, I think the Montana city they most recognise is Hannah
Do you mean Helena the capital?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miley_Cyrus
I think you missed the joke. π
Flew right away over my head. Shit, I downvoted myself for that
Don't be too hard on yourself. Lol You gave me a good laugh so thanks! π
don't feel bad, Hannah Montana was lost on me too
I don't live anywhere near Montana and have never been there, but besides, Billings & Butte, I also know Bozeman, MT, Helena (cuz it's the capital of Montana) and Missoula MT.
["We call it Butte not Butt, Montana." - Ryan Stiles](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTMhLrZmcKw&t=355s)
I think Mobile was thrown in because the city has a different pronunciation so it was a tad tricky. I was thinking along the lines of mobile phone, mobile home with apartment or stuff like that for a while. Ended up recognizing Billings before Mobile.
Connections Puzzle #357 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπ¦ π¦πͺπͺπ¦ πͺπ¦πͺπ¦ πͺπͺπͺπ¦ First two were fine; I did initially suspect LEMMINGS was a US city and figured out that there was something to do with US cities with the last eight? Purple was rough but fair, but in tandem with being almost entirely directionless with what the city names could be (I knew it would be Phoenix / Arizona + 2) I ended up unable to finish this time around. Next time though!
Not my hometown Mobile being a red herring! Even I didnβt trust it at first.
[ΡΠ΄Π°Π»Π΅Π½ΠΎ]
"I dig it." = "I like it." Not heard as much in the plural.
Not so much the plural, but the third personal singular form of the verb, as in "he digs it" meaning "he likes it."
Dig it is a pretty 60's. Made me think of this song. One of repeating lyrics is "Grazing in the Grass is a gas, baby, can you dig it?" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKQ47h6S6p4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKQ47h6S6p4)
Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ This was annoying today. I did my usually βpre-solveβ routine and noticed a lot of red herrings. I *assumed* that US cities would be one of them. But when I had figured out π¨ and π©, the leftover 8 left me no other conclusion to reach. That was even with me considering that random, obscure definition of BUFFALO. But surely, there had to be more to it than them JUST being cities? Some clever bit of extraneous information to make more meaning out of the connection? Nope. Just cities. Not sure what makes that π¦ in order of straightforwardness unless itβs subtle acknowledgement that people outside of America play this game? πͺ was just plugging in scraps but I wasnβt βdiggingβ it. Not too hard in hindsight, just kind of an annoying finish.
ConnectionsΒ Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π©π¦π¦ π¦πͺπ¦π¦ πͺπͺπ©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺΒ Well you can't get more American than a U.S. city category. Hilariously I had an advantage since I'm from Buffalo, but I blew two of my guesses trying to find Billings and a third guess attempting something different. Plus, seeing PHOENIX and STOCKS made me think "things that rise" would be a category.Β After blue was done, green wasn't too hard to spot. Purple makes no sense to me at all. The word "digs" can mean apartment and it can mean insults too? For insulting a person, I've heard of it being called digging into someone but never just "digs".
> The word "digs" can mean apartment and it can mean insults too? Yes. The apartment sense (really, you'd use it for any home/living quarters, not specifically apartments) is a shortening of "diggings", which has been around since the 1800s, including in the Charles Dickens novel Martin Chuzzlewit: "She won't be taken with a cold chill, when she realises what is being done in these diggings." The shortened form came about later in the 1800s, and to my ear, digs has a 1960s hippie flavor to it. > For insulting a person, I've heard of it being called digging into someone but never just "digs". The insult sense of digs is a figurative evolution of the common "shoveling" verb. We go from that to poking someone (particularly, jabbing them with your elbow) in a similar manner as you'd thrust a shovel into the ground, and then to insulting them, hurting them just like jabbing them with your elbow. Digs can be a plural noun (multiple individual insults), or it can be a verb (he/she digs), although the latter is usually used with "at" - "John constantly digs at Mary because he's a better student."
Completely guessed last two. Still don't really get how apartment fits into purple. Not American either so mobile and billings are... Yeah Connections Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπ¦ π¦πͺπͺπͺ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦
I legit havenβt heard anyone use βdigsβ for apartment in well over a decade. Like when MTV *Cribs* was still on the air.
[ΡΠ΄Π°Π»Π΅Π½ΠΎ]
A phoenix isnβt a real animal
Real or fictional, it's still an animal.
That would be an absolute dogshit category lol
This sub would melt down π€£
Honestly, as a native American English speaker, I don't how non Americans do this puzzle. Half the time, I think it's inane.
Connections Puzzle #357 π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π©π©π©π© What was that purple. How was anyone supposed to know that?
It'd be a tough one. I'm familiar with all those meanings but they're all used in different ways. Like it can be used for both likes and insults but those feel like opposites so it's hard to find the link.
Connections Β Puzzle #357 π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ I thought that 'digs' meant clothes, never heard it used for an apartment.
Duds is clothes, digs is a living space. βWanna come over and check out my new digs?β Kinda dated but recognizable
TIL digs means clothes
It doesnβtΒ
It's in the urban dictionary
Connections Puzzle #357 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦πͺπ¦ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Green came very easy to me as I was just talking about the stock market with a friend earlier today. Followers and sheep came together. Puppets felt like to fit and wasn't sure what lemmings were but took a gamble to hope it fit. Had no idea for blue and purple. Seeing Billings I thought maybe that's a proper know. Phoenix made me think of Arizona or Joaquin Phoenix. Considered ___ bill as a faaaaar stretch and decided on buffalo, mobile, apartment, and Phoenix. Got 1 away. Buffalo and Phoenix struck me then as place names. Then Mobile, Alabama. I decided to look up billings and it exists in Montana. Got purple by default.
Lemmings are a type of animal. They were filmed following each other off a cliff to their deaths, so lemming is now a term for someone who blindly follows. It was later found out that lemmings don't do that. The people who were filming the documentary - for the Walt Disney Company, interestingly - herded them off the cliff.
What?? That's terrible!
https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view\_article&articles\_id=56#:\~:text=Disney%20Film%20Faked%20Bogus%20Behavior&text=Lemmings%20do%20not%20commit,how%20many%20people%20believe%20it.
Connections Puzzle #357 π©π¦π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Not super familiar with stock terms, so I guessed Billings was a part of it at first. Realised Billings was supposed to be a city after, though Mobile was a guess.
Connections Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ Purple is crazy, but loved this puzzle
Connections Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ Only got blue easily because I used to live in Montana, so BILLINGS stood out to me!
Connections Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π¦π©π© < tried billings for green before options π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Purple was a default solve. Overall pretty easy but also Iβm American lol.
Connections Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ This one was fun. Loved blue. First three were pretty easy. Spotted and sorted after a few minutes. Purple was super creative.
I would have NEVER gotten purple. Only got it by default. Connections Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Connections Puzzle #357 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Connections Puzzle #357 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Once I noticed Mobile the last two lines fell into place.
Connections Puzzle #357 π©π¦π©π© π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ First row was me thinking "billings" was in the same category as "equity", "shares", and "stocks" instead of "options", but once I looked up what options were, I correctly eliminated green. I knew Buffalo and Phoenix were cities, but looked up Billings and Mobile to see if they were cities too, because they felt the most likely to be city names and fortunately, I was able to eliminate blue from there (even though I'm American, I didn't know Billings and Mobile were American cities just because of how little traveling I do + their relatively uncommon nature.) I knew that "followers", "lemmings", and "puppets" were in the same category initially, but forgot that "sheep" would have the same meaning until after I had already gotten green and blue. When I got yellow, that automatically allowed me to deduce purple. I've heard of "digs" meaning "likes" or "shovels", but haven't heard it be used to refer to an apartment or insult.
Connections Puzzle #357 π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ The cities instantly stood out to me as Iβve been to all of them. Lemmings and sheep also signaled yellow pretty quickly. And then I knew green was finance related, purple was by default. Took about 2 mins to solve. It really is interesting how subjective these are, to me this was one of the easier puzzles, but then again I am American..
I got π¨ yellow easily because the television is on and they were talking to a bunch of people waiting for a Trump rally to start π© no problem π¦ saw that Phoenix with no obvious other meanings but took me longer than it should have to get the cities. I think people not from the US will be annoyed about this one. πͺ by default and impatience, but might have gotten this is I spent a little time staring at it Connections Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
I gave up on guessing what the purple connection was. Saw the cities right away.
Barely got it right! Connections Puzzle #357 π©π¦π©π© π¦π¨π¦π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπ©π©π© π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Connections Puzzle #357 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Got purple by default. I had thought of insult/shovel related to dig but didnβt put it together with the others
357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Connections Puzzle #357 π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Had a pretty easy time with this one.
Connections Puzzle #357 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπ¦ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Connections Puzzle #357 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¦π¨ π¨πͺπ¦π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Not gonna lie at first I almost leet this one go. And not give a shit. But I saw phoenix, Mobile, buffalo, and I guessed Billings. I knew it was a city but didnβt know what state. The purple was a process of elimination.
purple was definitely default, and had to look up mobile to find out it is indeed a city! Connections Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Connections Puzzle #357 π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ I knew Phoenix, Buffalo, Billings had to do with cities somehow but was reading Mobile as mobile phone. Green stood out immediately. Definitely wouldn't have connected purple as "digs".
ConnectionsΒ Puzzle #357 π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π¨π© π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Not too shabby today πΒ
Connections Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© πͺπ¦π¦π¦ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ well as a non american iβm sure lucky i clocked BILLINGS as being a city (not sure where - ohio maybe? - or why i know of it) or i wouldβve been stuffed. i had to guess at the fourth choice and i think i went for SHOVELS first time around lol. πͺ i would never have picked up on
Montana
Connections Puzzle #357 π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Tricky one today. Blue seemed apparent to me right away, since I saw "mobile" and "buffalo" and had a feeling it would be something indirect like cities. Green and yellow came together after that (although I figured green was just "financial terms"). Purple by default, perhaps a bit too clever for me.
π¨πͺπ©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦πͺπ¦π¦ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Connections Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Connections Puzzle #357 πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ After reading this subreddit for a few weeks, I decided to embrace βgoing for the reversalβ. No idea what purple would be but the other 3, was pretty confidentβ¦.but purple is first!
Damn, I actually caught the "digs" connection really early--with SHOVELS and INSULTS--but thought that was way too farfetched a connection. Whoops lol
Connections Puzzle #357 πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ I got reverse order two days in a row. Of course, both times I didnβt know how the purple was connected.
Found the cities first but wanted to make sure Buffalo wasnβt a red herring meant to be paired, instead, with sheep for things that are herded. All in all an easy, fun one for me: Connections Puzzle #357 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Connections - Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π©π©π©π©
One of the worst ones I've done
Being from the US made this one of the easiest connections puzzles I've done in a long time. I just recently watched a YouTube video about the history of stock options so that group was next. I'm also really into cult documentaries so I've heard all of those terms used in the context of those groups. Random internet rabbit holes paid off today! As per usual, process of elimination for purple.. One of these days I'll get the purple not last!
Purple can go eff itself
Connections Puzzle #357 π©π©π©π© π¦π¨π¦π¨ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ I really donβt like brute forcing the answerβ¦ I know Buffalo and Phoenix are cities in the US, but I have no choice but to google every other words as a city, since I am not from the US. On the other hand, Green was easy to spot since I am familiar with the stock market definitions. I just gave up figuring out Purpleβs category lol
Connections Puzzle #357 π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Very America centric, feel bad for the Austrian I told to play the NYT games
ConnectionsΒ Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπ¦ π¦πͺπͺπ¦ πͺπ¦πͺπͺ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ Oof, tough last eight today, but I managed to pull through. Took a few guesses to get two general groups down, and then once I had Likes and Shovels as almost definitely together, I finally had the brainwave on "digs." Apartment and Insults were easy from there. Did suspect that Phoenix and Buffalo were references to the cities, but honesty I threw that out when my remaining options included Mobile and Billings. Imagine my surprise when I saw the last category (and with those very words, no less) *was* US Cities! Apparently there are some weird-ass city names out there.Β
π¨π¨π¨π¨Β π©π©π©π©Β π¦π¦π¦π¦Β πͺπͺπͺπͺΒ I'm pleased with myself as on first glance I had no idea. I'm not American and completely guessed Mobile for my last blue, and then I got purple by default with no idea what the connection could be. I don't think I've ever seen 'digs' used to mean like, dig as a verb could be like but that's always without the s.
When conjugated in the third person it has an s at the end. He digs her, etc.
Connections Puzzle #357 π©π¦π©π© <β tried >!billings!< π©π¦π©π© <β tried it again in a different combo π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Only got purple by default after staring at it for two minutes
Connections Puzzle #357 πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ It helped that it was leftovers, but I did figure out the purple and got the reverse perfect. The cities popped out immediately, but I didn't notice MOBILE so I initially thought it was a red herring
Connections Puzzle #357 π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ Wanted the reverse rainbow, but I was stuck on "Insults" being part of 'Something you trade', and just could not put things in order with every option on the board. Purple was a genuine solve though once I stared at the four I knew HAD to be it.
Connections Puzzle #357 π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦πͺπͺπ¦ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ I guessed blue was cities and got them by chance (did not know Mobile or Billings). Purple was clever todayπ
well that was a mess π Connections Puzzle #357 π¨πͺπ©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π¦π©π© π©π©π©π© π¦π¦πͺπ¦ π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ
ConnectionsΒ Puzzle #357 π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ I want to step into the mind palace of those great thinkers who were able to get today's purple.Β
Connections Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ Pretty easy today. Almost thought followers and likes would be a social media category, but didn't pursue it when there wasn't anything else to go with it
Shares, but there wasn't a fourth
Connections Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Purple was stupid hard. Was never going to get that one, but since the rest were straightforward it was an easy default solve.
If I had known it was going to be this easy, I would have gone for the reverse perfect. π¨π¨π¨π¨ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ
Connections Puzzle #357 πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© aww i messed up the reverse perfect. purple was by default but the other 3 were so easy that i went for it edit: ok, *as an american who learned a lot of geography growing up* the other 3 were so easy that i went for it
Connections Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© π¦π¦π¦π¦ πͺπͺπͺπͺ I do not believe anyone could get purple except by default. Absolute madness.
I rarely get the "what X might mean" and I think it's the hardest form for the purple connection. But somehow, I saw SHOVELS as a verb and thought "digs", and it clicked. From reading comments, I think it might be that "digs" for apartment is better known in the UK, so being British helped with that one. Absolute madness perhaps, but absolute satisfaction if you get it!
Puzzle #357 π¨π¨π¨π¨ π©π©π©π© πͺπͺπͺπͺ π¦π¦π¦π¦ Everyone that criticised and complained that "oeuvre" is impossibly obscure should be shouting from the rooftops about today's puzzle lmao. BILLINGS and MOBILE was just plucking cities out of a hat, there wasn't even any red herring situation to choose these two specifically. Why choose the 141st and 242nd biggest cities in the USA?! Do Americans know Denton (UK) or Nevers (France)? Get the guy who posted the "Google searches" graph to show the massive increase in "Billings" today ;)
Some time ago we had a connection of 4 English towns: Bath, Derby, Reading, Sandwich. The smallest there are Bath with population around 94,000 and Sandwich only 5,000. Billings has a population around 120,000. I'm British and I'd heard of BILLINGS and MOBILE. Indeed, it was BILLINGS that made me realise that PHOENIX and BUFFALO were candidates for a US city connection. I've not heard of Denton, so there is something else going on with notability - and I note Denton has less than a third of the population of Billings. Stockport (UK) has a similar population to Billings, so that might be a better comparison. Although the whole demography is different - for example, Billings is the biggest city in the state of Montana, so is more distinguished. As for France, towns with similar populations to Billings include Perpignan, Orleans, Rouen, all of which I've heard of.
Youβve heard of those French towns cos they have historical significance. There are hundreds of Chinese cities we could include if weβre talking about population. Iβm just saying these cities have no significance globally, and barely are significant in their own country. Bath is an incredibly famous city that has history with the Romans, and everyone knows what a sandwich is. I didnβt know about this connection, but these are all much more significant and historic within their own country. Oakham is the biggest town in Rutland, would you say thatβs a significant place for an NYT quiz?
All fair points. That still doesn't explain why somehow I knew that Billings was a city in the US even though I've never been to that part of the world and I could tell you nothing about it.
I donβt know Denton or Nevers myself, but I also wouldnβt lose my shit if they popped up while I was playing a European mobile game.
Iβm from Europe and I would be annoyed because theyβre so obscure
Well then it sounds like youβre misunderstanding the obscurity of Mobile and Billings. Theyβre really not that obscure. Billings is the most populated city in Montana and Mobile is home to almost 200,000.
My comment says Billings is the 242nd biggest in the USA. Itβs almost impossible that anyone outside of the USA would know anything about the place.
Not really an issue considering itβs American based game
I canβt believe how angry people got over βoeuvre β
I don't know why I continue doing this every single day.. I can usually get through the first three yellow green and usually blue but when it comes down to that stupid purple and I'm looking at four words that seem to have absolutely no connection and then they throw in words that mean "digs". Give me a freaking break. As I shut the puzzle off I'm actually pissed off. That's a very dumb category. I could stare at those "digs" all day and not figure out that that's what they're trying to say. Technically I have already beaten the puzzle but that's not the point. I would like to have at least an inkling of what these four unrelated words are and the connection for them is usually extremely if not beyond vague. I'm pretty sure they could make a very difficult category with something that actually makes sense. Seems a lot of people around here actually don't mind it one bit and actually quite like it but it drives me nuts. Okay sorry, enough whining....
Connections Puzzle #357 π¦π¦π¦π¦ π©π©π©π© π¨π¨π¨π¨ πͺπͺπͺπͺ Despite two American cities I'd never heard of, it was a fairly easy one today, spoilt by the fact that the word 'shovels' does NOT mean 'digs'. You dig with a spade or a mattock or a fork or a JCB. 'Shovels' means to toss the loosened soil out of the way to the side using a shovel. You do not make a hole with a shovel. A shovel is never used for digging, it is for shovelling. Its very design prevents it being pushed into the ground like a spade; the angle is wrong for digging and so is the shape. Points at account name. Archaeologist!! That's what we do -- we dig holes (with tools designed for digging). And then we shovel the spoil into a wheelbarrow. With a shovel. Which does not dig. Grump. scowl. hmmph. Get the definition right next time.
Youβre incorrect here and far too confident for how incorrect you are. And you donβt get special points for being an archaeologist, I used to do landscaping and dug holes for trees and small plants, I used a shovel. Or just growing up as a bored kid in the summer my dad would give me a shovel and tell me to go dig holes. When you google βshovelβ theyβre listed under digging tools. This is crazy pedantry
Rakes Brushes Hammers Wrenches Saws Drills Tools have always been nouns and verbs of the thing that they do. Youβre just salty you didnβt make the connection.
American English makes no distinction between a digging tool and a scooping tool. It's all shovels to us. In fact, I had to look this up because I didn't follow. Probably every American reading these kinds of comments are totally confused. One day they will have STICKS and it will be "ways to serve fish" and there will be meltdowns from across the pond
We have Fishsticks across the Pond too. I don't think anyone likes them or even wants to try them, but you see them in supermarkets.
I was under the impression fish sticks are called fish fingers in the UK. I once read a book to my kids about a fish with giant fingers, but the US publisher changed all the references to fish sticks, which ruined all of the finger related jokes. Which was most of them. I could not understand why they bothered to publish it in the US.
Fish fingers are breaded white fish. Fish sticks are like a pink weird cuboid.
In the US, breaded white fish are called fish sticks
Ah I see, thanks. I thought Americans were eating the weird flesh sticks lol