NYT ‘Connections’ October 9: Answers and Clues for Game #486
October 9, 2024
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Didn’t fare so well on yesterday’s Connections? Don’t worry—Newsweek has got you covered.
After Wordle, Connections is the second most popular New York Times brainteaser. It was created bycrossword editor Wyna Liu in 2023 and born out of a brainstorming session to create new games and puzzles for the publication.
A stock image of a woman smiling while looking at her cellphone. Newsweek has some hints to help you solve Wednesday’s “Connections.” A stock image of a woman smiling while looking at her cellphone. Newsweek has some hints to help you solve Wednesday’s “Connections.” Sonja Pacho/Getty Images
Every week, Liu uses ideas from her everyday experiences to build the game. While she does have an official spreadsheet for all her word and category ideas, she also carries a notebook that she uses to jot down inspiration when it strikes.
“Each board has to be made from scratch,” Liu told Newsweek in an exclusive interview. She added that, when she sits down to build the week’s games, she consults her notebook and spreadsheet, which acts like a “digital sketchpad.”
How to Play ‘Connections?’
In Connections, players are given a 16-word table. From there, they must then categorize the words into four common theme categories. For example, yesterday’s Connections linked the words “Bat,” “Pumpkin,” “Spider” and “Witch” under “Halloween Symbols.”
Players can make only four wrong guesses before they lose the game.
In her Newsweek interview, Liu shared some hints to help players win at Connections.
“My best piece advice is to wait as long as you can before guessing,” said Liu. “You may see the board and have completely identified the category, seeing five words that could belong in that category.
“Don’t try to guess the four words in that category, because, even though you know what the fifth member is, you won’t know which of the four it might not be,” which would ultimately waste a turn.
By trying your hand at finding another category first, it is likely to remove the words that could belong to more than one group, ultimately meaning there is less chance to commit an error, because “your four guesses go by extremely quickly.”
‘Connections‘ #486 Clues for Wednesday, October 9
Newsweek has several clues to help you with today’s Connections puzzle.
Yellow Category: Words related to fizz.
Green Category: Terms associated with another word for flourishing.
Blue Category: What you might read if you love music.
Purple Category: Think about what you use at the table.
‘Connections’ #486 Answers for Wednesday, October 9
No worries if you didn’t get it. The next Connections puzzle will be available from The New York Times at midnight in your local time zone, and Newsweek will be on hand with more hints.
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