Today's NYT Connections Hints, Answers for Oct. 23, #500 - CNET

Here are some hints — and the answers — for the very unusual Connections No. 500 for Oct. 23.

Read on for the Connections answer.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today's New York Times Connections puzzle is No. 500, a nice, solidly round number. And it looks as if the puzzle creators decided to mark the occasion with a ... really oddball puzzle? It's either going to make players laugh and declare it super easy, or it could have them rolling their eyes at the choice of themes for the four different-colored categories. Once you've solved one, or two categories at the most, it seems likely you'll ace the remainder of today's puzzle.

To me, Wordle is more of a vocabulary test, but Connections is more of a brainteaser. You're given 16 words and asked to put them into four groups that are somehow connected. Sometimes they're obvious, but game editor Wyna Liu knows how to trick you by using words that can fit into more than one group. Read on for today's Connections hints and answers.

There's also news in the Connections world. The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one it's had for some time for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. And players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: NYT Connections Could Be the New Wordle: Our Hints and Tips

Playing is easy. Winning is hard. Look at the 16 words and mentally assign them to related groups of four. Click on the four words you think go together. The groups are coded by color, though you don't know what goes where until you see the answers. The yellow group is the easiest, then green, then blue, and purple is the toughest. Look at the words carefully and think about related terms. Sometimes the connection has to do with just a part of the word. Once, four words were grouped because each started with the name of a rock band, including "Rushmore" and "Journeyman."

Read more: New NYT Connections Game for Sports Fans Lets Players Swing for the Fences

Here are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest, yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

And like we said above, it's a loopy one today. Let's just say it'll color your world.

Yellow group hint: It can mean coward.

Green group hint: It's not easy being this.

Blue group hint: Suede shoes

Purple group hint: Prince loved it.

Yellow group: Yellow ____

Green group: Green ____

Blue group: Blue ____

Purple group: Purple ____

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

The completed NYT Connections puzzle for Oct. 23, 2024.

The theme is yellow ____. The four answers are cab, jacket, journalism and pages.

The theme is green ____. The four answers are beret, goblin, salad and thumb.

The theme is blue ____. The four answers are jay, jeans, moon and whale.

The theme is purple ____. The four answers are haze, heart, prose and rain.