---
license: cc-by-4.0
---
# NYT-Connections
This repository contains the `NYT-Connections` dataset proposed in the work *NYT-Connections: A Deceptively Simple Text Classification Task that Stumps System-1 Thinkers*. This work will be published in the 31st International Conference on Computational Linguistics in January of 2025.

Authors: Angel Yahir Loredo Lopez, Tyler McDonald, Ali Emami
## Paper Abstract
Large Language Models (LLMs) have shown impressive performance on various benchmarks, yet their ability to engage in deliberate reasoning remains questionable. We present NYT-Connections, a collection of 358 simple word classification puzzles derived from the New York Times Connections game. This benchmark is designed to penalize quick, intuitive ``System 1'' thinking, isolating fundamental reasoning skills. We evaluated six recent LLMs, a simple machine learning heuristic, and humans across three configurations: single-attempt, multiple attempts without hints, and multiple attempts with contextual hints. Our findings reveal a significant performance gap: even top-performing LLMs like GPT-4 fall short of human performance by nearly 30\%. Notably, advanced prompting techniques such as Chain-of-Thought and Self-Consistency show diminishing returns as task difficulty increases. NYT-Connections uniquely combines linguistic isolation, resistance to intuitive shortcuts, and regular updates to mitigate data leakage, offering a novel tool for assessing LLM reasoning capabilities.

## Puzzle Description
*NYT-Connections* puzzles are a subset of the New York Times' daily *Connections* contests. Each puzzle consists of 16 words, with the goal being to sort these words into 4 correct groupings of varying difficulty. The base game allows for hints when a solution is one word away from being a correct group, and allows up to 4 mistakes. Thus, the goal is to correctly identify all 4 groups without committing 4 mistakes.

## Data Description
`date` - the original date the contest was offered.

`contest` - the title string for the contest.

`words` - the collection of 16 words available for use in puzzle solving.

`answers` - an array of objects, where each object is a correct group and contains:

- `answerDescription` - the group name
- `words` - the 4 words that classify into this group

`difficulty` - the difficulty of the puzzle as rated by community contributors.

## Citation
```
@misc{lopez2024nytconnectionsdeceptivelysimpletext,
      title={NYT-Connections: A Deceptively Simple Text Classification Task that Stumps System-1 Thinkers}, 
      author={Angel Yahir Loredo Lopez and Tyler McDonald and Ali Emami},
      year={2024},
      eprint={2412.01621},
      archivePrefix={arXiv},
      primaryClass={cs.CL},
      url={https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.01621}, 
}
```