clinical connections has two competitive results worth distinguishing: your points score and your eligibility for the fastest daily completion. Points combine the groups you solve, the speed bonus and deductions. The daily record concerns the fastest eligible time for a signed-in player completing that day's puzzle without hints.
You do not need a perfect understanding of the scoring system before enjoying a board. However, knowing what the numbers mean prevents common misunderstandings, especially when a completed puzzle scores below 1,000 or when a result cannot enter the daily-record comparison.
The puzzle rules before the points
Each board contains sixteen terms arranged into four intended groups of four. Select four terms and submit the proposed relationship. Correct groups are revealed with labels, and the final group completes by elimination. The puzzle allows four incorrect submissions.
Hints offer help when you are stuck, while shuffle and clear controls allow you to reconsider the arrangement or selection. These controls have different purposes: changing the visual order of unresolved terms is not the same as receiving a clue about their relationship.
The main clinical connections introduction explains the experience from first selection to final explanation. This guide concentrates on the numbers and the conditions attached to the timed competition.
Where the maximum 1,000 points comes from
Each completed group contributes 100 points. Completing all four groups therefore provides 400 group points. A successful finish can add up to 600 points through the speed bonus, creating the maximum of 1,000 before any deductions.
The speed bonus rewards a faster successful finish. It is not an extra set of questions, and a completed board does not automatically receive all 600 points. That is why two players can identify the same four relationships and receive different totals.
For a completed puzzle, the components can be understood as group points plus the earned speed bonus, minus applicable mistake and hint deductions. This describes the scoring ingredients. It does not supply a time-to-bonus formula, a particular time threshold or an unconfirmed minimum-score rule.
A result below the maximum can therefore be entirely consistent with completing the board. It may reflect elapsed time, mistakes, hints or a combination of those factors rather than an unresolved group.
What an incorrect submission costs
Each incorrect submission deducts 50 points. A plausible group that turns out not to match the intended connection therefore has a scoring consequence, as well as using part of the four-error allowance.
Before submitting, check whether the same explanation genuinely fits all four terms. This is a suggested playing strategy, not an additional rule. It can be particularly useful when three concepts appear to share a clear relationship and the fourth has been included mainly because it looks familiar.
After an error, reconsider the relationship rather than only swapping one tile repeatedly. The meaningful question is whether the proposed category was wrong, too broad or correct for fewer than four terms. When the explanation is revealed, that distinction can be more useful than the points deduction itself.
What a hint costs
Each hint deducts 100 points and using hints removes eligibility for the fastest daily record. A hint is therefore a larger points deduction than an incorrect submission, with an additional consequence for record eligibility.
That does not make hints an illegitimate way to play. A supported attempt may be the more enjoyable choice when the topic is unfamiliar or you are interested in discovering the explanation rather than competing. The activity still has a clear endpoint and material to review.
Do not let the record rules become a reason to remain stuck indefinitely. A player who uses a hint and then understands a relationship has done something worthwhile. The points system describes the conditions of the attempt; it does not decide whether the learning was valuable.
An illustrative calculation
Suppose a player completes all four groups, earns an illustrative speed bonus of 450 points, makes one incorrect submission and uses one hint. The arithmetic would be:
400 group points + 450 speed points - 50 mistake points - 100 hint points = 700 points.
The 450-point bonus is chosen only to demonstrate the calculation. It is not associated here with a particular completion time, and 700 is not a reported player's result or a clinical-performance threshold.
Now consider a second illustrative attempt with the same 450-point speed bonus and one incorrect submission, but no hints. Its total would be 800 points. The difference is the hint deduction, not a different number of completed groups. The first attempt would not qualify for the daily record because a hint was used; the second would still need to meet the other eligibility conditions.
The timer measures elapsed play, including interruptions
The clock begins when you start the puzzle and stops when the puzzle finishes. It continues through breaks and reloads. There is no competitive pause created by leaving the page, taking a call or refreshing the browser.
This is an elapsed-time measure, not a requirement to complete every puzzle within a published countdown. An interruption can therefore affect the recorded time and speed component even though it says nothing about your understanding of the concepts.
For a deliberate record attempt, begin when you expect to have an uninterrupted opportunity to play. For ordinary learning, accept that circumstances may affect the result. Work, safety and real clinical responsibilities take precedence over a game clock.
Do not extend this timer into the later application question. That question belongs to a different part of the experience and is explicitly outside the puzzle's time and score.
Who can set the daily record?
The daily record requires a signed-in player, a completed current daily puzzle and no hints. The record is the fastest eligible completion, with public attribution by profession and country rather than personal name.
An archived puzzle is useful practice, but it is not the current daily puzzle. A completed board with hints is a valid supported attempt, but it is not record-eligible. A points total should not be treated as the record itself, because the record comparison concerns eligible elapsed time.
These rules also matter when playing socially. A puzzle solved jointly around a table is a group activity, not an independently achieved personal record. The sharing guide explains ways to enjoy the social element without confusing collaboration with an individual attempt.
What happens outside the competition
The group explanations and references help you examine what the board meant. The optional application question then provides a separate problem and feedback without changing the points or completion time.
This separation is useful even for highly competitive players. Once the timed result is settled, there is no scoring reason to rush the explanation. Pay particular attention to the final group, which completed by elimination and may not reflect a relationship you independently recognised.
Your result describes one puzzle under its rules. It is not a percentage of a professional syllabus mastered, an examination-readiness estimate or a measure of how quickly you should act in real clinical care.
Frequently asked questions
Why did I finish the puzzle but score less than 1,000?
A completed board provides 400 group points. The remaining points depend on the earned speed bonus, with deductions for mistakes and hints.
Does reloading the page pause the timer?
No. The clock continues through reloads and interruptions, so elapsed time can include periods when you are not actively looking at the board.
Does the application question count towards the daily record?
No. The application question has separate feedback and does not change the puzzle's score or completion time.