NYT Connections October 20: Clues and Answers for Game #497

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Connections can sometimes be easy to crack, but there are days when a little help goes a long way.

To keep your winning streak intact, Newsweek has compiled a set of hints to guide you through Sunday's puzzle without giving too much away.

Launched by The New York Times in June 2023, Connections has quickly gained a large following, challenging players to group words based on hidden connections such as homophones, synonyms and clever word associations.

By blending logic with language skills, it has become the Times' second-most popular game, trailing only behind Wordle.

In this guide, we'll explain how to play Connections, offer strategies to improve your puzzle-solving skills and provide hints for Sunday's challenge. Be cautious—if you're trying to avoid spoilers, Sunday's answers are included further down.

How to Play Connections

Connections challenges players to categorize 16 words into four groups based on their associations.

Each group is color-coded to reflect its difficulty: yellow for the easiest, followed by green, blue and purple. The puzzles are rarely straightforward, often featuring homophones, wordplay and other techniques to keep players challenged. If players get stuck, they can use the shuffle button to rearrange the words on the screen.

Wyna Liu, a crossword editor at the Times who developed Connections, recently shared with Newsweek her tips for playing the game.

"My best piece of advice is to wait as long as you can before guessing," Liu said.

"You may see the board and have completely identified the category, seeing five words that could belong in that category," she continued. "Don't try to guess the four words in that category because even though you know what the fifth member is, you won't know which of the four it might not be." This would ultimately waste a turn.

"Don't do what I do, which is 'rage solve,'" Liu said.