The New York Times game Connections has captivated players worldwide, like its other highly-popular game Wordle.
Developed by puzzle creator Wyna Liu in 2023, Connections has become the second most popular game on the New York Times app following Wordle.
Liu continues to edit the puzzles as she is the puzzle editor of The New York Times.
Describing how she builds the Connections games that keep readers engaged, Liu told Slate, “The process is I have a notebook where I keep down category ideas. And when I sit down to make boards, I’ll take one of those ideas, I’ll take those words, and then I’ll start spinning off of them. And then the boards will be built from that, and sometimes it goes in surprising directions.”
She continued, “I feel like that’s sort of one of the most joyful things about making games. I don’t know what the categories are gonna be. I start with like a seed. And then I’m just like, ‘Oh, what does this word do?’ and then maybe like a dozen categories of possibilities, and then you kind of see if any of those words are playing off each other, and the brain builds from that.”
Philip Toscano/Associated Press
How to Play ‘Connections’
In order to play connections, users must identify a common theme in a 16-word table. For each of the four themes, there are four words to find. The themes organized by color, are arranged in order of difficulty.
Some words can belong to more than one category or group, so players must use caution as you only have four chances to make a mistake before losing the game.
The New York Times has ranked today’s game in terms of difficulty as a 1.8 out of 5.
The answers for the Monday, October 21 Connections puzzle are below, so read with caution if you want to solve the puzzle on your own.
Connections #498 Clues for Monday, October 21
Newsweek has come up with some clues to help you solve today’s game.
Yellow: A strong source of protein for those who are vegan or vegetarian.
Green: Synonyms include “entice” or “captivate.”
Blue: Used when driving a certain type of car.
Purple: Multiple uses of a word most often associated with a particular sport.
Connections #498 Answers for Monday, October 21
Yellow Category: Kinds of Beans
Yellow Words: Kidney, Mung, Navy, Pinto
Green Category: Attract
Green Words: Draw, Grab, Hook, Pull
Blue Category: Automatic Gear Shifter Positions
Blue Words: Drive, Low, Neutral, Reverse
Purple Category: ____ Pool
Purple Words: Liver, Car, Dead, Whirl
Were you able to work out the answers? If so, congratulations. If not, there’s always next time, as new puzzles come out every day at midnight on the New York Times app.
Newsweek will be back with another round of hints and tips.
While waiting for the next game of Connections to come out, you can try playing the New York Times’ other game Wordle, for which Newsweek also provides hints, tips, and tricks.
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