Solution to Connections
After solving some of the clues, we can notice that there are many pairs of words which only differ by one letter, and there are also many words that combine to make two-word phrases. It turns out that the pieces within each group can be connected such that all horizontal connections make two-word phrases or compound words, and all vertical connections differ by exactly one letter (just like a word ladder). For example, in the first section, {Certain Starbucks size}=TALL connects to {Status or reputation}=STANDING on its west edge, {Instruction}=ORDER on its east edge, and {____ effect (physical phenomenon involving magnetism)}=HALL on its south edge.
Additionally, each group of clues is missing exactly one piece, and the word on this piece can always be uniquely deduced from the adjacent words (and in all cases, there are exactly 2 adjacent words). For example, when we put together all the pieces in the first group, there is nothing that connects on the east side of {Certain precipitation}=RAIN, as well as the west side of {Friend in Australia}=MATE. We can fill in this space with CHECK, which makes two-word phrases with RAIN on the west side and MATE on the east.
Here are the answers to all the clues and how they connect, with the missing pieces highlighted in red:
Gratis
FREE
|
Status or reputation
STANDING
|
Certain Starbucks size
TALL
|
Instruction
ORDER
|
1040, e.g.
FORM
|
___ effect (physical phenomenon involving magnetism)
HALL
| ||||
Certain precipitation
HAIL
| ||||
Common wetland bird
RAIL
| ||||
Something often not included
BATTERY
|
Piece of DNA?
ACID
|
Certain precipitation
RAIN
|
CHECK
|
Friend in Australia
MATE
|
Knight's aide
SQUIRE
|
Mire
BOG
| ||
1849 or 1936
SQUARE
|
Word before and after "or no"
DEAL
|
Food often responsible for gas
BEAN
|
Purse or satchel
BAG
|
Out of charge
DEAD
|
Completely exhausted
BEAT
| ||
Tourist attraction
SIGHT
|
Status of some e-mails
READ
|
HEAT
|
Stadium movement
WAVE
|
Black ball
EIGHT
|
Exciting soccer event
SAVE
|
One can be warm or cold
FRONT
|
Veranda
PORCH
| |
Lifting equipment
JACK
|
Winter morning sight
FROST
| |
Want
LACK
| ||
Musical riff
LICK
|
2009 animated film with talking dogs
UP
|
Quantity measured in BPM
TEMPO
|
LINK
| ||
Relative of a stoat
MINK
|
Layer of paint
COAT
| |
By far the best in a category, briefly
GOAT
|
"Say ____!"
CHEESE
|
What it's like outside, per a popular song
COLD
|
Vocation
CALLING
|
21 proof?
CARD
|
HOLD
|
D&D class
BARD
| |
Angelic
HOLY
|
Most of the human body, it's said
WATER
|
It's rude to flip it
BIRD
|
Amorous start?
POLY
|
Piece of a Kit Kat
WAFER
|
Like the air on Mount Everest
THIN
|
Applejack, e.g.
PONY
|
Mary-Kate, for one
TWIN
|
Average
MEAN
| |||
Spooky sound
MOAN
| |||
Reap
HARVEST
|
Drop behind?
MOON
|
Word on some traffic signs
WALK
| |
Something very relatable, in modern slang
MOOD
| |||
Start to morning or night
GOOD
|
A knight might try to accomplish one, in a puzzle
TOUR
| ||
GOLD
|
Zerg activity
RUSH
|
Word often abbreviated as its sole silent letter
HOUR
|
Annual season
FLU
|
Absolutely nail, in slang
SLAY
| |||
Wing it?
FLY
|
Meh
BLAND
|
It's fired by some artists
CLAY
| ||
Make less healthy, in a way
FRY
|
Hormone producer
GLAND
|
Family group
CLAN
| ||
Tear up
CRY
|
Pamper
BABY
|
Ten Benjamins
GRAND
|
Become an expert in
MASTER
|
PLAN
|
Superlative
BEST
|
Action on Facebook or Discord
FRIEND
| |
It might be shaken off
RUST
|
Asteroid composition
BELT
| |
Stratagem
RUSE
| ||
Stood up
ROSE
|
Eden, e.g.
GARDEN
|
Hodgepodge
VARIETY
|
Take the L
LOSE
| ||
Zero, in some games
LOVE
|
SEAT
| |
Core essence
MEAT
|
Half a ___ is better than none
LOAF
|
HEAD
|
Object whose color was much debated in 2015
DRESS
|
Polo, e.g.
SHIRT
|
Aid in some prayer
BEAD
|
Sam's home, in fiction
SHIRE
| |
Mama or Papa, in a fairytale
BEAR
|
Advertise
MARKET
|
Stock unit
SHARE
|
It often leaves a bitter taste
BEER
| ||
Source of some pressure
PEER
|
Outdoor bowling locale
LAWN
|
PARTY
|
It might be curried
FAVOR
|
Occasion to rise to?
DAWN
|
Truly enjoy
SAVOR
| |
Willing, colloquially
DOWN
|
It's kept by a conductor
TIME
|
Frugal person, often
SAVER
|
Cap's counterpart
GOWN
|
All alternative
TIDE
|
Combine
POOL
|
Hired mercenary
GOON
|
Surveying instrument?
POLL
|
TYPING LIKE THIS, MAYBE
SHOUTING
|
Material applied to bows
ROSIN
| ||
Court action
SHOOTING
|
STAR
|
Like many prize money amounts
ROUND
|
Half of the Dynamic Duo
ROBIN
|
Attempt
STAB
|
With "up", like a speaking doll
WOUND
| ||
Something you might want to buy, but not get
TICKET
|
Tiny pencil
STUB
|
Counterpart of complete, in logic
SOUND
|
Morsel
BITE
|
Sporting object shaped like the Monster logo
WICKET
|
Either of two humors
BILE
|
Send
MAIL
|
BOX
|
Make multiple small incisions
SCORE
|
Typical hangout for teenagers
MALL
|
Squirrel away
STORE
| |
When you might say, "Winter is coming"
FALL
|
Bet against, in a sense
SHORT
|
Floor
STORY
|
Crossword contents, colloquially
FILL
|
Where many castles are built
SHORE
|
Sentry
PATROL
|
Subject of cinema
FILM
|
One might be "of the arts"
PATRON
|
Break into pieces
SHATTER
|
Transpose
SWAP
| ||
Separate, like a group of rats
SCATTER
|
Spreadsheet feature
PLOT
|
Where definitely not to go when social distancing
BAR
|
Melodramatic show
SOAP
|
Place for a quarter
SLOT
|
It might be jacked
CAR
| ||
Like many things on Black Friday
CHEAP
|
SHOT
|
Spam container
CAN
|
Denzel Curry, for Billie Eilish's 2019 tour
OPENER
|
Cut corners
CHEAT
|
One expressing thoughts
OPINER
|
Red or white, perhaps
WINE
| |||
Slowly decline
WANE
| |||
Desire
WANT
|
Persevere
LAST
|
Building material in a fairytale
STRAW
| |
Delay
WAIT
|
LIST
|
Purse part
STRAP
|
Pants suspender?
HANGER
|
What's at the end of the line?
BAIT
|
What a sign in front of deep water might say
DANGER
| ||
Eighth Amendment concern
BAIL
|
Symbol for conjugate transpose in quantum mechanics
DAGGER
|
Reed's place
MARSH
|
Kind of criminal group
TRIAD
| ||
What some bands do
MARCH
|
Certain lagomorph
HARE
|
Common fairytale villain
WITCH
|
Event with objection-able language?
TRIAL
|
Detest
HATE
|
Hands on a wrist?
WATCH
| ||
PLAY
|
What a person awoken from a coma may ask for
DATE
|
Tinder success
MATCH
|
Use one finger, perhaps
POINT
|
"Eat, ____, Love"
PRAY
|
You might do this to "Hello, World!"
PRINT
|
Object that can be seen from outer space, supposedly
WALL
|
Typical homework assignment
PAPER
|
Setting of Flatland
PLANE
|
Subject of estate planning
WILL
| ||
Charge
BILL
| ||
It might "save" you
BELL
|
Spice that comes from a berry
PEPPER
|
Make money
MINT
|
LINT
| ||
Period that always begins on a Wednesday
LENT
| ||
Put in a .zip file
COMPRESSED
|
Short melody
AIR
|
Express anger, perhaps
VENT
|
Meeting leader, often
CHAIR
|
Ride
LIFT
| ||
It might be put away
FOOD
|
Part of a bicycle
CHAIN
|
Talent
GIFT
|
What has the goods?
SHOP
|
One's usually 2 or 3 syllables in length
FOOT
|
Quarter of a walk
BALL
|
GAME
|
It's aired
SHOW
|
UI consideration
FONT
|
Clog, e.g.
SHOE
|
Leaving time?
SPRING
|
Coward
CHICKEN
|
Some think life originated from a type of one
SOUP
|
Where things might get heated
KITCHEN
|
SINK
|
Common data type in programming
STRING
|
Having low pH, as a food
SOUR
|
Fabric produced by some insects
SILK
| ||
High in alcohol
STRONG
|
Serve tea, e.g.
POUR
|
Isolate
SILO
| ||
Polynesian garment
SARONG
|
Time for one to shine
SOLO
|
End
TIP
|
It's often stubbed
TOE
| |
Small amount
HAIR
|
Something broken between competitors
TIE
| |
Low poker holding
PAIR
| ||
Word on some receipts
PAID
|
Exit
LEAVE
|
It's sometimes represented by the peach emoji
BEHIND
|
Feature of some cafés in Japan
MAID
| ||
Primary
MAIN
|
Song that spawned the mondegreen, "I won't chew the steak"
STAY
| |
STAG
|
Herbie the Love Bug's model
BEETLE
|
Word at the end of many fortune cookie misreadings
BED
|
Pokémon type super-effective against fire and ice
ROCK
|
High in minerals, as water
HARD
|
Golf action
DRIVE
|
End counterpart, on a keyboard
HOME
|
What some dogs do
HERD
| ||||
HELD
| ||||
It's unlikely to freeze over
HELL
| ||||
Like Plan 9 from Outer Space
BAD
|
Sight in some R-rated films
BLOOD
|
Part of a spreadsheet
CELL
|
Sound unit in linguistics
PHONE
|
Song in a musical
NUMBER
|
SPOT
|
Set afire
LIGHT
|
Shallot or onion
BULB
|
Runny liquid, at times
SNOT
| ||
What some angels are made of
SNOW
|
Part of an egg
WHITE
|
Opposite of signal
NOISE
|
Yellow action
SLOW
| ||
Messy eater, e.g.
SLOB
|
Within each group, the boxes and connectors form a letter shape (for most of the groups the letter is pretty clear with only the boxes, but in e.g. the fourth group, the connectors are needed to see the R shape). The groups are sorted by alphabetical order of their first clue, so we want to find a way to reorder these letters. This is where the missing pieces come in - these 20 pieces can be connected to form a big cycle, with horizontal and vertical connections working the same way as the rest of the puzzle. For example, the missing piece in the first group was CHECK with connectors on the east and west edges, which ends up joining with SPOT from the last group (connectors on the east and south edges) and BOX from the 11th group (connectors on the east and west edges).
SPOT
F
|
CHECK
I
|
BOX
R
|
SEAT
E
| ||
HEAD
P
|
SHOT
X
|
HEAT
X
|
SINK
M
| ||
HELD
I
|
LINK
E
| ||||
HOLD
R
|
LINT
S
| ||||
GOLD
T
|
STAR
X
|
PLAY
X
|
LIST
H
| ||
STAG
E
|
PARTY
R
|
GAME
A
|
PLAN
W
|
Reading the letter shapes in this cycle order, we get the words FIRE, MESH, WARE, and TRIP on the north, east, south, and west sides respectively, with Xs separating them. We can apply the connection mechanic one more time and see that WIRE makes two-word phrases with TRIP on the left side and MESH on the right side, and is one letter off of both FIRE and WARE, so this is the final answer.