When trying to solve today’s Connections puzzle, you will want to find your mojo and settle in. Today’s puzzle has a particularly challenging final two categories, and even with the other words removed, can make things difficult to solve. You will want to try to find the best way to parse these two categories out, but understanding how they work is going to be the real difference-maker that will help you win.
If you like Connections, you should attempt to try the daily Letter Boxed puzzle. This puzzle has a fair amount of challenges and often requires a lot of trial and error. Figuring out how to string the right words and letters together can be frustrating, but as you realize how the puzzle works and experiment, you can slowly piece together what you know and how to make it to the end. In the end, it is a very satisfying puzzle to get right.
Today’s Connections Category Hints
OCTOBER 09 #485
As stated, the final pieces of this puzzle are going to be a little harder to lock in. There are quite a few pieces that don’t make sense right away, and even when you figure out the trick, you cannot necessarily rely on that to win. To help you parse it out, here are the clues to help you out:
- One category is about things that appear on top of liquids.
- One category is about how things grow.
- One category is about media that discuss a certain topic.
- One category is about words that all end in other words that share a common theme.
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If you still need some pushing, we have the category names to help you out. Notably, there is an extra word for the last category, and it is not obvious which one doesn’t belong unless you figure out which one belongs in the other category.
 |
EFFERVESCENCE |
 |
BURGEON |
 |
MUSIC PUBLICATIONS |
 |
ENDING WITH TABLEWARE |
Today’s Connections Answers
OCTOBER 09 #485
Yellow Answers: Revealed & Explained
|
EFFERVESCENCE |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
BUBBLES |
FIZZ |
FOAM |
FROTH |
I do not think I realized effervescence could mean BUBBLES until this puzzle, but according to Google, that is its primary definition. I already had this category sorted anyway, but the actual category name caught me off guard when I saw it. I have done my fair share of being a barista, and so I recognized what the words referred to and why they were important. I was just surprised by what I saw when the category was revealed, and it made me chuckle slightly.
Green Answers: Revealed & Explained
|
BURGEON |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
BLOSSOM |
DEVELOP |
MATURE |
PROGRESS |
I was also a little surprised by the use of the word “burgeon,” but a little less so than before. This was the first category I solved, and I saw MATURE and DEVELOP and started looking around for other similar words. I saw BLOSSOM next before finally landing on PROGRESS. However, once I finished the first two categories and felt fairly confident, I was sure I had lost all progress as I moved on to the final two.
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Blue Answers: Revealed & Explained
|
MUSIC PUBLICATIONS |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
BILLBOARD |
MOJO |
PITCHFORK |
SPIN |
I am not well versed in music-related magazines, and that ended up being my downfall, as I did not know that PITCHFORK did not belong in the last category. And, without that information, it looked like it belonged more than two of the other words. Figuring out that these were all magazines would have saved me the game, but alas, that knowledge escaped me. However, I am glad I figured out the trick for the next category, even if it didn’t help me.
Purple Answers: Revealed & Explained
|
ENDING WITH TABLEWARE |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
BOILERPLATE |
BUTTERCUP |
JACKKNIFE |
WITHERSPOON |
The last category was hard to figure out, but looking at all of the words, I did manage to guess what the category was going for correctly. The main trick was looking at WITHERSPOON and knowing it was a name and there were not any others. From there, I saw there were three words with utensils in the last half. Unfortunately, this also made me think that it was more likely that BUTTERCUP or BOILERPLATE were the red herrings, and those two wrong guesses cost me the game. Fortunately for you, my loss here is your gain.
Other Games Like Connections
If you are still in a puzzling mood, check out a new puzzle listed below. For my money, I enjoy playing Absurdle as it is very similar to Wordle but with enough of a twist to keep it quite challenging. In fact, it cannot be solved in less than four guesses.
|
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 |
|
Name a country based only on its silhouette and a few geographical hints. |
Yes |
|
|
Create a password in this ever-changing, not-so-simple game. You can find some helpful tips in our Password Game guide. |
Yes |
|
|
Try to solve a game of Wordle without any help. With each guess, the game reveals as little information as possible, even changing the word if need be. |
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