Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsLooking for the NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, October 21, 2024? This is game #498. Start with the word bank and progressively stronger hints below; stop before the spoiler section if you want to solve it yourself.
Connections #498 word bank
The 16 words in the October 21, 2024 puzzle are:
WHIRL, DRAW, NAVY, LIVER, CAR, KIDNEY, HOOK, DRIVE, PINTO, PULL, NEUTRAL, DEAD, LOW, MUNG, GRAB, REVERSE.
Group hints, from subtle to specific
Try to find four words that share a connection before moving to the next hint. The nudges below are paraphrases of contemporaneous guide hints, not official category labels.
- One group consists of legumes.
- One group is about bringing something toward you or capturing attention.
- One group contains options you might see in an automatic car.
- For the trickiest set, consider words that can come before “pool.”
Category names
- Kinds of beans
- Attract
- Automatic gear shifter positions
- ___POOL
Spoilers: Connections #498 answers
Stop here if you do not want the complete solution. The answer set below is reported by Forbes and corroborated by TechRadar and Try Hard Guides.
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#1 Best Overall
- Kinds of beans: KIDNEY, MUNG, NAVY, PINTO
- Attract: DRAW, GRAB, HOOK, PULL
- Automatic gear shifter positions: DRIVE, LOW, NEUTRAL, REVERSE
- ___POOL: CAR, DEAD, LIVER, WHIRL
The last set forms carpool, Deadpool, Liverpool and whirlpool. “Liverpool” is a single proper-name word; here the puzzle uses the visible “LIVER” plus “POOL” construction.
How to approach a Connections puzzle
Connections gives you 16 words and asks you to sort them into four groups of four. The categories are color-coded yellow, green, blue and purple, with yellow described as easiest and purple as trickiest. The New York Times Help Center notes that possible overlap is part of the challenge: “Each puzzle has exactly one solution and is meant to be tricky by having words that could fit into multiple categories.”
For a practical approach, first scan for an obvious set of four, then check whether any word could plausibly belong to another theme before submitting. That overlap is why a tempting association is not always the intended group. The NYT says its words and categories are curated by editors using the Oxford Dictionary. Read its Connections help page for the game’s rules.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where to play and revisit the puzzle
The daily Connections puzzle is free to play on NYT Games platforms, and the game releases at midnight in the player’s timezone. The Help Center recommends signing in with an account to retain progress across devices.
Quick Recap
Rank #3
- Daily puzzle: Free to play.
- Connections archive: Includes puzzles dating back to June 12, 2023, and is available to All Access and Games subscribers. Archived puzzles do not count toward streak totals, and a completed archived puzzle cannot be replayed.
- Connections Bot: Offers personal statistics and analysis of categories and mistakes; it is available to All Access, Home Delivery and Games subscribers.
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