NYT Connections today — hints and answers for Monday, October 14 (game #491)

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 #491) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• PONY
• ROLL
• COMB
• BOOK
• ROOT
• TREE
• CLAP
• TABLE
• BUN
• SALAD
• DIG
• RUMBLE
• SIFT
• TWIST
• PEAL
• BRAID

NYT Connections today (game #491) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Look for
• Green: Sonic boom
• Blue: Up-do
• Purple: Eats shoots and __

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 #491) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: RUMMAGE
• GREEN: SOUNDS OF THUNDER
• BLUE: WAYS TO WEAR YOUR HAIR UP
• PURPLE: THINGS THAT CAN HAVE LEAVES

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

NYT Connections today (game #491) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #491, are…

• YELLOW: RUMMAGE COMB, DIG, ROOT, SIFT
• GREEN: SOUNDS OF THUNDER CLAP, PEAL, ROLL, RUMBLE
• BLUE: WAYS TO WEAR YOUR HAIR UP BRAID, BUN, PONY, TWIST
• PURPLE: THINGS THAT CAN HAVE LEAVES BOOK, SALAD, TABLE, TREE

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I'm disappointed at myself for not solving today's purple group, because it's a really nice connection; THINGS THAT CAN HAVE LEAVES, featuring BOOK, SALAD, TABLE and TREE. I did stare at it for a while hoping for inspiration, but none came and I ended up entering those four words by default and solving it without knowing why I was doing so. This is arguably the worst thing about Connections – the fact that you can complete it by only getting three of the four groups. Maybe there should be a way whereby when faced with that final puzzle you get to write in your answer, and an AI assistant decides whether it's correct or not (I imagine too many people play Connections for a human to be the arbiter).

That's my only criticism today, though. This was a fairly simple Connections game, but a perfectly enjoyable one.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Sunday, 13 October, game #490)

• YELLOW: MADE OF KERATIN CLAW, HOOF, HORN, NAIL
• GREEN: ROAD RUNNER CARTOON STAPLES ANVIL, BOULDER, COYOTE, TNT
• BLUE: KINDS OF PANTS CAPRI, CARGO, HAMMER, STIRRUP
• PURPLE: ___ ROLL CALIFORNIA, DRUM, EGG, HONOR

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.