Looking for a different day?
A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, April 24 (game #1048).
Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
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NYT Connections today (game #1049) - today's words
Today's NYT Connections words are…
- HAYSTACK
- PITCHFORK
- COPPER
- OCEAN
- CAST IRON
- ENAMEL
- HURLY-BURLY
- NAIL
- DICK
- CHUCK E.
- CHEESE
- HAIR
- CROWD
- GUMSHOE
- SKIN
- MILLION
- FLATFOOT
NYT Connections today (game #1049) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Human protection
- GREEN: Phrases including a large amount
- BLUE: retro ways to describe a detective
- PURPLE: Begin with a word for “toss”
Need more clues?
We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #1049) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: BODY COVERINGS
- GREEN: MASSES, IN IDIOMS
- BLUE: OLD TIMEY SLANG FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT
- PURPLE: STARTING WITH SYNONYMS FOR "THROW"
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #1049) - the answers
The answers to today's Connections, game #1049, are…
- YELLOW: BODY COVERINGS ENAMEL, HAIR, NAIL, SKIN
- GREEN: MASSES, IN IDIOMS CROWD, HAYSTACK, MILLION, OCEAN
- BLUE: OLD TIMEY SLANG FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT COPPER, DICK, FLATFOOT, GUMSHOE
- PURPLE: STARTING WITH SYNONYMS FOR "THROW" CAST IRON, CHUCK E. CHEESE, HURLY-BURLY, PITCHFORK
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 1 mistake
Today’s green group MASSES, IN IDIOMS was one that I put together without properly thinking about it, but the phrase “needle in a haystack” had been in my mind earlier in the game as I made a mistake inexplicably linking HAYSTACK, PITCHFORK, MILLION and NAIL.
I’m really not sure what I was thinking there, but I pulled myself together enough to get OLD TIMEY SLANG FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT. This is an area where they could have come up with 160 different tiles, such is the variety of nicknames for bobbies and narcs.
Alas, today the purple group passed me by — largely because I’d wrongly assumed some inside knowledge about CHUCK E CHEESE was required, when all that was actually needed was knowledge of the word "chuck".
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, April 24, game #1048)
- YELLOW: PIZZA INGREDIENTS CHEESE, DOUGH, PEPPERONI, TOMATO SAUCE
- GREEN: ASSOCIATED WITH OCTOPUSES ARMS, INK, INTELLIGENCE, SUCTION CUPS
- BLUE: THEY HAVE BLADES GRASS, HELICOPTER, ICE SKATES, LAWN MOWER
- PURPLE: WHAT "CAB" MIGHT REFER TO CABIN, CALLOWAY, RED WINE, TAXI
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.