Agree with both of you. I spend a couple minutes on it, then I’m done. This morning they have a word, MOWN. I’m 70 years old and never seen that one before So would have no idea what to “connect” it to.
For wordle I select a random starter, I used to use STARE but got kind of bored with using the same one. So now I wing it and go, almost always, with my 1st thought as I progress - till I get to 4 guesses and nervousness sets in. I rarely use 'discovery' words. My brother is at 450-ish, he does. I think to get that high you'd have to?
For connections, I do google if I'm super stuck. I try not to waste too much time on it, some days are quite the stretch (I think we all agree on it). I also do the mini crossword. I've never been good at crosswords, but again sibling rivalry - I can count on one hand the number of times I've been my oldest brother. Even if I know the words I can't type as fast as he solves. But happy with myself on the mini, I have gotten better.
It's fun here on TUG, the spoiler feature makes it more enjoyable for me, for sure!