If you want to win today’s Connections puzzle, you will want to gobble up all the hints and tricks you can find. Today’s puzzle looks funny at first glance, and a fair amount of boxes have words that do not seem to make sense. However, as you uncover all the layers in this puzzle, you will slowly start to find the clues that will allow you to solve it once and for all.
If you want to try another puzzle after this one, you should check out the NYT’s daily Mini Crossword puzzle. It is very similar to the traditional puzzle found in most newspapers, but this version is a smaller, more manageable size. It is about 5×5 and has a great variety of cultural clues for you to use to solve the puzzle. I find it a nice way to relax on a break or while traveling short distances to get my puzzling time in without taking tons of time.
Today’s Connections Category Hints
OCTOBER 12 #488
With today’s puzzle, a large part of the solution will come from recognizing what belongs where and what small, seemingly nonsense words prove to go together. There is some crossover and some words that could be in categories that do not actually exist in this puzzle. However, you may want to keep them in mind, as words are often reused in different ways in future puzzles.
- One category is about a certain type of fashion.
- One category is about an action you can take in a challenging situation.
- One category is about words that sound like noises that an animal makes.
- One category is about certain manufacturers but in a form that does not make sense at first glance.
Related
Wordle History: Archive Of All Past Words Used
Wordle is a simple daily word game that has taken the internet by storm. With only 6 chances to get the right answer, players may need a little help.
If you are still figuring out which categories contain which words, knowing the names of the categories can help you finish this puzzle. We have all four listed below for you, and you can use them to determine the meanings of the words.
 |
DRAPED ACCESSORIES |
 |
TOLERATE |
 |
BIRD ONOMATOPOEIA |
 |
STARTS OF CELL PHONE MAKERS |
Today’s Connections Answers
OCTOBER 12 #488
Yellow Answers: Revealed & Explained
|
DRAPED ACCESSORIES |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
SCARF |
SHAWL |
STOLE |
WRAP |
This was the first category I solved today after a couple of mistaken guesses. I originally had SCARF with GOBBLE and SWALLOW, which were all in different categories. However, the idea of gobbling something down had misled me for a moment. Luckily, I noticed SCARF, SHAWL, and WRAP and had to figure out the last accessory. I happened to guess STOLE on a whim, and it turned out to be correct. Unfortunately, I am not fully up-to-date with fashion accessory names.
Green Answers: Revealed & Explained
|
TOLERATE |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
BEAR |
STAND |
SWALLOW |
TAKE |
I was quite certain that this was a category, and even though I had guessed this combination of words once before, I tried it again and got it. It was an extraordinary feeling, but perhaps I misclicked on one of the words. Either way, when I saw BEAR and STAND, I thought this was a likely combination, but figuring out that SWALLOW and TAKE also belonged here took me a moment longer, mainly because of the misdirection I had fallen for above. However, I like how this category turned out; it works well for today’s puzzle.
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Blue Answers: Revealed & Explained
|
BIRD ONOMATOPOEIA |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
COO |
GOBBLE |
HONK |
HOOT |
This one was a little confusing today, as GOO was in the mix, but I thought it was unlikely they would pair it with COO. I also entertained the idea that HONK and MOTOR might form a category of car-related words, but that did not seem to pan out either. The remaining words from the last category were not helpful. Given the options, I had to work with what was left, and it turned out that these were all bird noises. It’s a bit early for turkey season, but the GOBBLE sound was the biggest hint that that was the case.
Purple Answers: Revealed & Explained
|
STARTS OF CELL PHONE MAKERS |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
APP |
GOO |
MOTOR |
SAM |
Even after I knew what was happening with this category, it took me a moment to figure out what manufacturers these words represented. Weirdly enough, I recognized MOTOR as Motorola first, but that might be the days of the massive popularity of the Razor haunting my nightmares. I figured out that SAM was Samsung next before figuring out that APP and GOO were industry giants Apple and Google. If you managed to recognize these before solving the puzzle, I am very impressed.
Other Games Like Connections
If you still want some good puzzling times, you can check out one of the puzzles in the boxes below:
|
Game Name |
How To Play |
Is It Free To Play? |
|---|---|---|
|
Wordle (NYT) |
Solve a random five-letter word by using color clues. Every Wordle answer can be found in our daily updated list. |
Yes |
|
Very similar to Wordle, where players change the number of letters in the word. |
Yes |
|
|
Create a password in this ever-changing, not-so-simple game. You can find some helpful tips in our Password Game guide. |
Yes |
|
|
Name a country based only on its silhouette and a few geographical hints. |
Yes |
- Released
- June 12, 2023
- Developer(s)
- The New York Times Company
- Publisher(s)
- The New York Times Company
- ESRB
- e
- Platform(s)
- Web Browser , Mobile