Hint for today's Connections answer

Instead of jumping straight to the answer, let's start with some hints for today's Connections puzzle:

• Yellow - Hmm, these things are not as they seem... Am I buying the real ones?
• Green - These words can be linked to the founder of psychoanalysis.
• Blue - Q,R,S ... wait what's next?
• Purple - New people/learners in higher education.
• One of blue's answers is a dinosaur!

Remember - Yellow is the easiest group to find followed by Green and Blue, with Purple being the hardest set of words to connect.

Connection words for 2nd July

Here's the words included in today's Connections puzzle - see if the clues above help you form a connection before we visit today's answer:

Connections answer for 2nd July

Without further ado, here's the Connections answer for today:

• Knockoff - Bootleg, Copy, Fake, Replica.
• Associated with Freud - Dreams, ID, Oedipus, Slip.
• Words after T - Mobile, Pain, Rex, Shirt.
• Starting with Highschool/College abbreviations - Freshwater, Juniper, Seneca, Sophocles.

Yellow and blue were my favourites today, not least because blue mentions a dinosaur, but because I got them both! Thank you, no applause needed. What did trip me up was purple, but now I know the answer it makes more sense.

What to play after Connections?

The obvious answer to this question is Wordle, but, if you've already solved that today, then The New York Times does offer other games. When it comes to word-based games, The NYTimes has the Mini Crossword, Spelling Bee, Letter Boxed and Strands, which is still in its beta phase. If you fancy a break from words, then you can also try Tiles - a motif matching game - or Sudoku.

Outside of The NYTimes, there's Semantle - where you have to reach the secret word by guessing its meaning. Spelling doesn't count in Semantle, instead you have to pay attention to the numerical value your guesses have to chart your path to the answer. If you'd prefer to keep to the Connections format, however, then it's worth visiting Puzzgrid. Here you'll find hundreds of Connections-style puzzles, the twist, however, is that you only have three minutes to solve them.

(You can also just watch Only Connect on BBC iPlayer...)

If you're in a reading mood, then we've discussed why The NYTimes Mini Crossword is a reliable joy and interviewed Jonathan Knight, Head of Games for The NYTimes.

Good luck solving today's Connections!