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Spoiler warning: This guide gives progressively stronger hints and then the full answers for NYT Connections #493, published on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. Stop before the “full answers” section if you want to finish the puzzle yourself.
Quick hints for Connections #493
The 16 words in this puzzle can be divided into four groups of four. The New York Times color system runs from yellow, the most straightforward category, to purple, the most difficult or interpretive.
- Yellow: Words that indicate something will happen at a later time.
- Green: Vocabulary connected with setting up or describing a tournament.
- Blue: Words that can describe pieces or shapes of breakfast cereal.
- Purple: Things the outstretched index and middle fingers can represent.
One-word hints
If you need a little more help without seeing every solution, these are representative answers from each group:
#1 Best Overall
- Yellow: SOON
- Green: BRACKET
- Blue: CHEERIO
- Purple: PEACE
Full answers for NYT Connections #493
Yellow: At some future point
EVENTUALLY, LATER, NEXT, SOON
Each of these words can refer to a future time or a later occurrence. “Eventually,” “later,” and “soon” work naturally as temporal adverbs. “Next” can describe the event, person, or point in time that follows the current one.
Green: Parts of a tournament setup
BRACKET, BYE, ROUND, SEED
A tournament may be arranged in a bracket, played across several rounds, and populated by ranked or positioned seeds. A bye lets a competitor advance without playing in the intervening round.
This group creates an especially deliberate trap with NEXT. A tournament has a next round, but NEXT belongs with the time-related words rather than with the tournament vocabulary.
Rank #2
- "It was a great experience for the three of us . . . I loved it!" -- The Opinionated Gamers (review of original Dr. Esker's Notebook)
- Stand-alone sequel to the original Doctor Esker's Notebook
- Like an escape room packed into a deck of cards
- Original word, letter, number, logic, and geometry puzzles with unique solutions
- Solo or group play, hints available online
Blue: Bit of breakfast cereal
CHEERIO, FLAKE, PEBBLE, PUFF
These words describe recognizable cereal pieces or forms. A Cheerio is a ring-shaped cereal piece, while flakes, pebbles, and puffs are common descriptions of other cereal shapes. The category is about types or shapes of cereal pieces, not a list of official brand names.
Purple: What the outstretched index and middle fingers can represent
PEACE, SCISSORS, TWO, VICTORY
Extending the index and middle fingers can form a peace sign or victory sign, represent the number two, or make the “scissors” hand in rock-paper-scissors. Unlike the other groups, these answers are linked by the possible meaning of a gesture rather than by one narrow grammatical or object category. That interpretive leap makes it the purple group.
Why these answers fit
The cleanest way through this grid is to notice the words with the narrowest possible associations first. CHEERIO may initially look like a brand-like proper noun rather than a description of cereal, but pairing it with FLAKE, PEBBLE, and PUFF reveals the cereal-piece category.
BRACKET is another strong anchor. Once it is read as tournament vocabulary, BYE, ROUND, and SEED make a coherent group. The remaining words then separate into four temporal terms and four meanings associated with a two-finger gesture.
The two biggest red herrings are NEXT and TWO. NEXT feels compatible with tournament progression, but it is being used as a time word. TWO may look too general to be a category answer until the puzzle asks what the hand gesture can represent. Reading the final group as meanings of the gesture—not as synonyms—makes the set work.
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This puzzle was characterized in contemporary coverage as somewhat easier than the previous day’s puzzle, with an estimated difficulty of 3 out of 5. The yellow and green groups provide relatively concrete entry points. The blue group becomes clear once “Cheerio” is interpreted as a cereal piece, while purple requires the broadest shift in perspective.
Rank #4
- "It was a great experience for the three of us . . . I loved it!" -- The Opinionated Gamers (review of original Dr. Esker's Notebook)
- Stand-alone sequel to the original Doctor Esker's Notebook
- Like an escape room packed into a deck of cards
- Original word, letter, number, logic, and geometry puzzles with unique solutions
- Solo or group play, hints available online
More puzzles
Want more category-matching puzzles? A related trivia-and-connections book such as Complete Kennections: 5,000 Questions in 1,000 Puzzles by Ken Jennings may suit readers who enjoy linking clues across categories. It is a separate physical puzzle book—not an official NYT Connections edition—and it does not contain this specific #493 grid. Affiliate disclosure may apply.
How to play more Connections
Connections is available through the New York Times Games app or website, and the Games offering includes Connections alongside other New York Times games. Readers who want to play more Connections can check the current official Games options before subscribing; pricing, trials, archive access, and promotional terms can change.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Connections answers for October 16, 2024?
The four groups are: EVENTUALLY, LATER, NEXT, SOON for “At some future point”; BRACKET, BYE, ROUND, SEED for tournament parts; CHEERIO, FLAKE, PEBBLE, PUFF for bits of breakfast cereal; and PEACE, SCISSORS, TWO, VICTORY for meanings of the two-finger gesture.
The Tool Desk
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NEXT is the main red herring. It can suggest the next round of a tournament, but in this puzzle it belongs with EVENTUALLY, LATER, and SOON as a word meaning a later time.
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Why is CHEERIO in the cereal group?
The blue group refers to cereal pieces or shapes, not exclusively to brand names: CHEERIO, FLAKE, PEBBLE, and PUFF.
The Bottom Line
The answers to NYT Connections #493 for October 16, 2024 are: EVENTUALLY, LATER, NEXT, SOON for “At some future point”; BRACKET, BYE, ROUND, SEED for tournament parts; CHEERIO, FLAKE, PEBBLE, PUFF for bits of breakfast cereal; and PEACE, SCISSORS, TWO, VICTORY for meanings of the two-finger gesture.
Quick Recap
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