At times, Connections can be a breeze to solve, but on other days we could all do with a helping hand.
Newsweek has put together a series of hints to make sure you can solve today’s puzzle and don’t affect your winning streak.
Keep scrolling for tips on today’s Connections game, but be warned: the answers for puzzle #496 will be revealed at the bottom of the page. So, if you’d rather avoid spoilers, we advise you scroll with caution.
How to Play Connections
If you’ve never played Connections before, the rules of the game are easy to get the hang of.
To begin, players are given a table of 16 words. These words must be split into four groups of four based on common characteristics and placed into categories. The categories vary in difficulty from yellow to green to blue to purple, with yellow considered the easiest category and purple considered the trickiest category.
For example, a recent game linked the words “braid,” “bun,” “pony” and “twist” under the category “Ways to wear your hair up.” This was a blue category.
Once you’ve selected four words, you’ll click the “Submit” button. If your choices are correct, they’ll appear in the category color and disappear from the grid. If they are incorrect, however, they will remain gray in color and stay on the board.
If you’re stuck, try selecting the “Shuffle” button to move the words to a different place on the grid. This may just give you the refresh you were looking for.
‘Connections’ #496 Clues for Saturday, October 19
Newsweek has helpful hints to assist you with today’s game.
Yellow: Give rise to.
Green: Items that smell nice.
Blue: Things that could hurt you.
Purple: You can play these titles on consoles.
Oleg Elkov/Getty Images
‘Connections’ #496 Answers for Saturday, October 19
Yellow Category: BRING ABOUT
Yellow Words: Generate, Inspire, Prompt, Provoke
Green Category: THINGS THAT ARE OFTEN SCENTED
Green Words: Candle, Incense, Lotion, Soap
Blue Category: THINGS THAT MIGHT STING
Blue Words: Nettle, Jellyfish, Insult, Wasp
Purple Category: VIDEO GAME FRANCHISES
Purple Words: Civilization, Halo, Madden, Metroid
Did you work out the answers? If so, congratulations; if not, don’t be put off. Practice makes perfect, and the next Connections puzzle will be published on Sunday.
Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone, and Newsweek will be back with another round of hints and tips.
In the meantime you could try your hand at The New York Times’ other popular game, Wordle, for which Newsweek also provides daily hints.
