Connections for South African broadband

How to play

1. 1Sixteen words, four hidden groups of four. Every word belongs to exactly one group — but several look like they could belong to another.
2. 2Tap four words that share a connection and press Submit. Get it right and the group folds away with its name and a one-line why.
3. 3Three of four gets a 'one away' nudge but still costs a mistake. Four mistakes and the puzzle is over; the remaining groups are revealed.
4. 4Groups run from easy (blue) to devious (red). Solve the obvious one first and the red herrings get easier to see.
5. 5One puzzle a day at midnight South African time, the same for everyone. Your board is saved, so you can come back to it.

What the groups teach you

Every solved group ends with a one-line explanation, and most of them are the vocabulary of choosing and fixing a home connection: the difference between a fibre network operator and the ISP you pay, which Wi-Fi band reaches the far bedroom, what a fair-use policy can do to an “uncapped” line, and why the subsea cables up both coasts decide your ping to London.

Solve it faster

Start with the group you are surest of and submit it before hunting for the rest: every group you clear removes its red herrings from the board. Words that fit two categories are the puzzle — “Fibre” is a cable, a way to get online and something light travels through — so ask which group the other three words force it into. If you are one away, swap the word you were least certain about.

Stuck on a technical group? How to read a speed test covers ping, jitter, download and upload, and our methodology explains how they are measured.

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from the NYT Connections?

The format is the same — sixteen tiles, four groups of four, four mistakes — but every category is about the internet, networking or South African telecoms, from speed units to subsea cables to Wi-Fi channels hidden in film titles. It is a daily companion to the speed test, not a copy of anyone's puzzle.

Are the categories accurate?

Every category is a checkable general fact: protocol names, port numbers, cable systems that land in South Africa, network operators that exist. Nothing is a claim about a listed provider's price or quality. If a word could honestly belong to two categories, the generator has already ruled that board out.

When does a new puzzle come out?

At midnight South African Standard Time, the same for everyone in the country. The bank has more than forty categories in four tiers, so a board of four does not repeat for weeks, and the shuffle differs every day.

What happens if I lose?

After four mistakes the remaining groups are revealed with their explanations, and your result still counts for the day — the streak tracks days played, and wins track puzzles solved. You can share the emoji grid either way.

Where is my progress stored?

In your browser only. Your guesses are saved as you go, so a reload or a return later in the day resumes the same board; nothing is sent to a server and there is no account.