NYT ‘Connections’ October 16: Answers and Clues for Game #493

It is the middle of the working week, commonly known as “Hump Day,” when our brains start to lag a bit.

That’s why Newsweek is on hand with some handy tips for today’s Connections puzzle, so you don’t lose your winning streak.

The daily word puzzle is edited by Wyna Liu for The New York Times and she shared some playing tips with Newsweek ahead of the game’s first anniversary in June.

She recommended being as patient as possible before committing to an answer, because “your four guesses go by extremely quickly.”

“Don’t do what I do which is ‘rage solve,'” Liu added.

How to Play ‘Connections’

There are 16 words that appear and players must sort them into groups of four across four categories based on how they think the words might be associated. For example, a previous Connections puzzle featured the words cater, host, plan and throw joined together in the category “Help put on a party.”

Each of the four categories is labeled with a color, which lets you know their level of difficulty, from yellow which is the easiest category, followed by green, blue and purple. The puzzles are not always straightforward and use a range of possible associations from homophones and wordplay, among other techniques.

The answers for Wednesday’s puzzle are toward the end of the article, so scroll with caution if you want to work them out yourself.

‘Connections’ #493 Clues for Wednesday, October 16

Newsweek has helpful hints to assist you with today’s game.

Yellow: At a time not in the present or past.

Green: Items you need for a sporting competition.

Blue: The shapes of morning meals served with milk.

Purple: Symbols that you can do when putting up two fingers.

‘Connections’ #493 Answers for Wednesday, October 16

Yellow Category: AT SOME FUTURE POINT

Yellow Words: Eventually, Later, Next Soon

Green Category: PARTS OF A TOURNAMENT SETUP

Green Words: Bracket, Bye, Round, Seed

Blue Category: BIT OF BREAKFAST CEREAL

Blue Words: Cheerio, Flake, Pebble, Puff

Purple Category: WHAT THE OUTSTRETCHED INDEX AND MIDDLE FINGERS CAN REPRESENT

Purple Words: Peace, Scissors, Two, Victory

Did you work out the answers? If so, congratulations; if not, don’t be put off. Practice makes perfect, and the next Connections puzzle will be published on Thursday.

Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone, and Newsweek will be back tomorrow with another round of hints and tips.

In the meantime you could try your hand at The New York Times’ other popular game, Wordle, for which Newsweek also provides daily hints.