NYT Connections today — hints and answers for Saturday, October 12 (game #489)

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 #489) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• GOO
• SWALLOW
• GOBBLE
• STOLE
• COO
• MOTOR
• SCARF
• TAKE
• APP
• HONK
• STAND
• HOOT
• WRAP
• BEAR
• SAM
• SHAWL

NYT Connections today (game #489) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Neck wear
• Green: Put up with
• Blue: Cluck cluck
• Purple: SON is another

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 #489) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: DRAPED ACCESSORIES
• GREEN: TOLERATE
• BLUE: BIRD ONOMATOPOEIA
• PURPLE: STARTS OF CELL PHONE MAKERS

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

NYT Connections today (game #489) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #489, are…

• YELLOW: DRAPED ACCESSORIES SCARF, SHAWL, STOLE, WRAP
• GREEN: TOLERATE BEAR, STAND, SWALLOW, TAKE
• BLUE: BIRD ONOMATOPOEIA COO, GOBBLE, HONK, HOOT
• PURPLE: STARTS OF CELL PHONE MAKERS APP, GOO, MOTOR, SAM

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Another easy Connections puzzle today, folks. The frustrating thing for me is that the one I didn't get was the one I absolutely should have got. That one was the purple START OF CELL PHONE MAKERS group, and given that in my spare time (when I'm not writing puzzle columns) I am a technology journalist, I really should have spotted APP(LE), SAM(SUNG), GOO(GLE) and MOTOR(OLA).

Still, I got the other three, of which BIRD ONOMATOPOEIA (blue) was a nice one, the other two fairly standard fare. Move along, nothing much to see here.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, 11 October, game #488)

• 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

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.