NYT Connections Today – Tips and Answers for Sunday, October 13th (Game #490)

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers into different categories. It can be difficult. So read on if you need pointers.

What should you do when you're done? Of course, play a few more word games. I also have Daily Wordle Hints and Answers, Strands Hints and Answers, and Quordle Hints and Answers articles if you need help with those too.

SPOILER ALERT: Below is information about today's NYT Connections. So don't read any further if you don't want to know the answers.

Your Connections expert

Marc McLaren

NYT Connections today (Game #490) – today's words

NYT Connections notes for game 490 on purple background

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today’s words from NYT Connections are…

CHARGE
BLOCK
CLAW
HAMMER
ANVIL
HORN
CALIFORNIA
COYOTE
EGG
IRON
DRUM
TNT
CAPRI
HOOF
HONOR
NAIL

NYT Connections today (Game #490) – Clue #1 – Group Clues

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

Yellow: Hard body part
Green: Meep meep!
Blue: You wear them
Purple: empty (What would a ball do on a slope)

Do you need further advice?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four thematic answers for today's NYT Connections puzzles are…

NYT Connections Today (Game #490) – Clue #2 – Group Answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

YELLOW: MADE OF KERATIN
GREEN: ROAD RUNNER CARTOON STAPLES
BLUE: TYPES OF PANTS
PURPLE: ___ ROLE

That's right, you can find the answers below. So don't scroll any further if you don't want to see them.

NYT Connections today (Game #490) – the answers

NYT Connections answers for game 490 on purple background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #490, are…

YELLOW: MADE OF KERATIN CLAW, HOOF, HORN, NAIL
GREEN: ROAD RUNNER CARTOON STAPLES Anvil, boulder, coyote, TNT
BLUE: TYPES OF PANTS CAPRI, CARGO, HAMMER, STEIBRUP
PURPLE: ___ ROLE CALIFORNIA, DRUM, EGG, HONOR

My rating: Moderate
My score: 1 error

There are days when the NYT difficulty ratings for Connections don't make sense to me. Today, purple is one of the “empty” variants, where you have to find the missing word that combines the four answers. These are usually the most difficult and (as far as I know) always make up the purple group. But there's no way __ ROLL was tougher today than the green group ROAD RUNNER CARTOON STAPLES or the blue group KINDS OF PANTS.

I solved them all, but only thanks to a 40+ year old love of Road Runner. I doubt everyone will be that lucky. And I wouldn't have had a chance to solve the blue group because I've never heard of HAMMERHOSEN or STEIRRUP-HOSEN. Am I out of touch? Most likely …

How have you been today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday's NYT Connections Answers (Saturday, October 12, Game #489)

YELLOW: DRAPED ACCESSORY SCARF, SCARF, STOLE, WRAP
GREEN: TOLERATE BEAR, STAND, SWALLOW, TAKE
BLUE: BIRD ONOMATOPEOIA COO, devour, honk, honk
PURPLE: BEGINNINGS OF CELL PHONE MANUFACTURERS APP, GOO, MOTOR, SAM

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games from The New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that have something in common, and each group has a different level of difficulty: Green is easy, Yellow is slightly more difficult, Blue is often quite difficult, and Purple is usually very difficult.

On the bright side, you don't technically have to solve the last question as you can answer it through a process of elimination. Additionally, you can make up to four mistakes, giving you some breathing room.

However, it's a bit more complicated than something like Wordle and there are lots of ways to trip you up with tricks. For example, watch out for homophones and other puns that could obscure answers.

It is free to play on desktop or mobile via the NYT Games website.

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