NYT Connections Answer for Today, October 13, 2024 | Lifehacker

If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Sunday, October 13, 2024, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for October 13, NYT Connections #490! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.

If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.

Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:

Yellow category - You have structures like these growing from your extremities and your scalp.

Green category - Slapstick comedy classics.

Blue category - They go on your legs, though some have fallen out of fashion.

Purple category - A fill-in-the-blank, with a rounded baked good—or a gymnastics move that requires a tucked head.

We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)

HAMMER, ANVIL, and NAIL do not go together.

CAPRI does not refer to a place in Italy.

STIRRUP might make you think of horseback riding and the American west, but it doesn’t go with other western words, like TNT or CALIFORNIA. It refers to a type of thing you can wear, no horse required. (TNT and CALIFORNIA don’t go together either, by the way.)

Yellow: MADE OF KERATIN

Green: ROAD RUNNER CARTOON STAPLES

Blue: KINDS OF PANTS

Purple: ___ ROLL

Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.

The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is MADE OF KERATIN and the words are: CLAW, HOOF, HORN, NAIL.

The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is ROAD RUNNER CARTOON STAPLES and the words are: ANVIL, BOULDER, COYOTE, TNT.

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is KINDS OF PANTS and the words are: CAPRI, CARGO, HAMMER, STIRRUP.

The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is ___ ROLL and the words are: CALIFORNIA, DRUM, EGG, HONOR.

I see a cartoon-y set of words seemingly related to Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner: ANVIL, COYOTE, and TNT. I also see words related to things made of keratin: HORN, CLAW, NAIL, HOOF. Let’s try that one, actually. 🟨

HONOR is a weird one. It describes virtue and integrity, and it’s also a title for a judge in a courtroom.

CAPRI is a type of pant, but it’s also a place in Italy. BOULDER is a big rock, but it’s also a place in Colorado. Not sure if there’s anything there.

An EGG and a DRUM are two things one can “beat.”

Oh, CAPRI, STIRRUP, and CARGO are all types of pants. I think HAMMER is a type of pant, too, right? 🟦

Oops, I thought CALIFORNIA, ANVIL, TNT, and COYOTE went together (I always associate Wile E. Coyote sketches with the California highway.) Wasted a guess there.

I know what’s happening now, though: EGG, CALIFORNIA, DRUM, and HONOR all go with the word “roll.” 🟪

That means ANVIL, BOULDER, TNT, and COYOTE comprise the Wile E. Coyote category. 🟩

I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:

First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Games app (formerly the Crossword app). You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).

Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.

You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.

If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.

Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!