NYT Connections today — hints and answers for Friday, October 11 (game #488)

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 clues.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Wordle hints and answers, Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Your Connections expert

NYT Connections today (game #488) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• NERVE
• SPLASH
• EXTRA
• RELISH
• GRAVY
• TREASURE
• SAUCE
• DIP
• DIVE
• BONUS
• VALUE
• BRASS
• FROSTING
• CHEEK
• SWIM
• SAVOR

NYT Connections today (game #488) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• Yellow: Really like
• Green: Don't forget the water wings
• Blue: Something more
• Purple: Impertinence

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 #488) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: CHERISH
• GREEN: QUICK JUMP IN THE POOL
• BLUE: ADDITIONAL BENEFIT
• PURPLE: BRASHNESS

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #488) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #488, are…

• YELLOW: CHERISH RELISH, SAVOR, TREASURE, VALUE
• GREEN: QUICK JUMP IN THE POOL DIP, DIVE, SPLASH, SWIM
• BLUE: ADDITIONAL BENEFIT BONUS, EXTRA, FROSTING, GRAVY
• PURPLE: BRASHNESS BRASS, CHEEK, NERVE, SAUCE

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

It's always nice to finish the week with a simple Connections game, so I greatly enjoyed today's instalment. It wasn't so easy that I didn't have to use my brain at all – it's never that straightforward – but it wasn't one where any of the individual groups were particularly complex, and there weren't too many red herrings.

There were some of course; I nearly put one together with SAUCE, DIP, RELISH and GRAVY, which might have made some kind of food-based group, albeit not a particularly consistent one. But that aside they were all fairly obvious, and all were essentially synonyms, with no complicated hidden connections to worry about.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Thursday, 10 October, game #487)

• YELLOW: BODY PARTS ARM, EYE, HIP, LEG
• GREEN: COOL, IN ’80S SLANG BAD, FLY, ILL, RAD
• BLUE: MOVIES BIG, ELF, HER, SAW
• PURPLE: WORDS IN “DO-RE-MI” DOE, FAR, SEW, TEA

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.