NYT Connections Fan Scholarship

Jonah Luke John Elijah Black Silver Lock Gold Elena Lexi Tyler Mason Andre Vader Jericho Diamond Category 1; Bible Characters Category 2; Wrestling Names Category 3; Words followed by “smith” Category 4; Vampire Diaries Characters I chose these particular categories as they each highlight an area of my life in which I am passionate. Category one, Bible Characters, is representative of my faith, and the importance that it holds within my life. I am a firm believer that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, and thus knowing the story of God is very important to me. Next, category two being words followed by “smith” reflects my hunger for knowledge. The history of the name Smith in the United States is often tied back to these much older trades, and this history, as well as many other facets of academia, are incredibly intriguing to me. Lastly, category three being Vampire Diaries Characters and category four being Wrestling names are both reflective of the importance of family in my life. This is because my father grew up watching and enjoying wrestling, and is quite knowledgeable about the subject, while me and my mother both love The Vampire Diaries, and often frequent Covington, GA in order to observe the places where the show was filmed. Further, each of these categories was selected for its ability to blend seamlessly in one or more words with the other present categories. It was my hope in creating this puzzle that a certain air of difficulty would be found, and false groupings would run rampant throughout the puzzle, encouraging solid thorough thought and a sense of accomplishment in completing the puzzle. Some false groupings which I would imagine might appear include the following: - Luke, Vader, Black, Silver - Jonah, Luke, John, Jericho - Diamond, Gold, Silver, Black - Andre, Tyler, Mason, Jonah These red herrings and false groups only continue to increase when one considers the number of partial groups which can be found within the puzzle that make complete and total sense. I hope that my puzzle creation has conveyed my sense of intrigue and wonder when it comes to the world of puzzles and knowledge, and that my categories help reflect my values as a person.