NYT Connections Answers: The New York Times’ daily puzzle, Connections, dropped its October 18 challenge, and it turned out to be a smooth yet tricky ride. Players had to group 16 words into four secret sets. It might sound easy, but with clever wordplay and hidden meanings, today’s puzzle gave players a real test of attention. If you struggled to spot the links, don’t worry, here are all the hints and the full solution for today.
What Is Connections & How Do You Play?
Connections is a word puzzle from The New York Times where players must find four groups of four words that share a common theme. Out of the 16 words given, each belongs to just one group. The fun (and frustration) comes from avoiding red herrings that seem to fit but don’t.
For example, “Hook,” “Nana,” “Peter,” and “Wendy” all belong to the Peter Pan characters. Another example: “Action,” “Ballpark,” “Go,” and “Stick” all go before the word “Figure.”
You get only four wrong tries before the game ends, and the answers are revealed. Each set has a colour showing how hard it is:
- Yellow (easiest)
- Green (easy)
- Blue (medium)
- Purple (hardest)
Like Wordle, you can share your results once you finish.
Hints & Full Solution To NYT Connections (October 18)
Here are the official hints for today’s puzzle:
- Yellow: Look for light, gentle movement.
- Green: Can you add something round?
- Blue: They’re famous names.
- Purple: These words are music to a merchant’s ears.
Extra hints:
- Look for homophones.
- There’s no car-related theme in today’s puzzle.
One word from each group:
- Yellow: Float
- Green: Hand
- Blue: Ford
- Purple: Cell
Full Solution For October 18 (Puzzle #859)
- Yellow (Glide): Breeze, Coast, Float, Skate
- Green (Words Before “Ball” in Sports): Dodge, Hand, Pickle, Racquet
- Blue (Prolific Actors): Bacon, Cage, Cruise, Ford
- Purple (Homophones of Synonyms for “Vend”): Cell, Hock, Pedal, Trayed
Today’s puzzle was a clever mix of movement, sports, and wordplay. Many players were thrown off by car-related guesses after seeing words like “Cruise” and “Ford,” but that was just a trap. The yellow “Glide” group was smooth sailing once you saw “Float” and “Breeze.”
The purple homophones were the trickiest, testing both listening and thinking skills. Overall, it was a satisfying and witty challenge to wrap up the day.
