This is the archived Sunday, October 13, 2024 NYT Connections puzzle, game #490—not today’s current puzzle. Start with the spoiler-light clues below, then reveal the category names and complete word groups when you’re ready.
How to play this archived puzzle
Connections asks you to sort 16 words into four groups of four that share a connection. The groups vary in difficulty. TechRadar describes the colors as green (easy), yellow (a little harder), blue (often quite tough) and purple (usually very difficult). You can play Connections on desktop or mobile through the NYT Games site; TechRadar says players may make up to four mistakes.
Hints for October 13, 2024
Read these in order, stopping whenever you have enough to solve a group.
- Broad clues: Think of a shared substance, a popular cartoon series, clothing, and words that come before the same four-letter term.
- More direct clues: A hard body part; “Meep meep!”; things you wear; and a blank describing what a ball does on a slope.
Words on the board
The 16 words are: CARGO, BOULDER, CLAW, HAMMER, ANVIL, HORN, CALIFORNIA, COYOTE, EGG, STIRRUP, DRUM, TNT, CAPRI, HOOF, HONOR, and NAIL.
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Answers for game #490
Spoilers below: the category names and all four groups are revealed.
- MADE OF KERATIN: CLAW, HOOF, HORN, NAIL.
- ROAD RUNNER CARTOON STAPLES: ANVIL, BOULDER, COYOTE, TNT.
- KINDS OF PANTS: CAPRI, CARGO, HAMMER, STIRRUP.
- ___ ROLL: CALIFORNIA, DRUM, EGG, HONOR.
Why the groups fit
Made of keratin
Claws, hooves, horns and nails are body structures made primarily of keratin.
Road Runner cartoon staples
Anvils, boulders, the coyote and TNT are familiar elements of the Road Runner cartoons.
Kinds of pants
Capri, cargo, hammer and stirrup each name a style or type of pants.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors___ roll
Add “roll” after each word: California roll, drum roll, egg roll and honor roll.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How difficult was this puzzle?
TechRadar’s Marc McLaren rated this particular game “Moderate” and reported solving it with one mistake. That is his personal assessment and result, not a general difficulty statistic or a measure of how other players performed.
Quick Recap
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