NYT “Connections” October 22: clues and answers for game #499

Connections was released by The New York Times on June 12, 2023 and now has a worldwide following. The brainteaser is the newspaper’s second most popular game, slotting in behind Wordle.

While the puzzle can sometimes be difficult to solve, Newsweek shares daily clues to help you continue your winning streak.

Earlier this year, Wyna Liu—Connections developer and crossword editor at the NYT—shared her best advice for conquering the game.

“Wait as long as you can before guessing,” Liu said. “You may see the board and have completely identified the category, seeing five words that could belong in that category.”

“Don’t do what I do which is ‘rage solve,'” she added.

For tips on today’s Connections game, keep reading, but be warned: the answers to today’s puzzle will be revealed at the end of this article, so if you want to try to work it out for yourself, we advise you scroll with caution to avoid spoilers.

How to Play ‘Connections’

Connections is easy to play, which is one of the reasons why it is so addicting. To start, players are given a set of 16 words, which must be broken into four groups of four, based on a particular theme. These words will then be placed into categories, which vary in difficulty. While yellow is considered the easiest category, purple is considered the most difficult. Green and blue are medium-difficulty categories.

For example, Monday’s game linked the words “kidney,” “mung,” “navy” and “pinto” with the category “Kinds of beans.” This was a yellow category.

While you could spend the entire day solving the puzzle if you’d like to, as there is no time limit, users get only four guesses—so choose carefully before clicking “Submit.”

‘Connections’ #499 Clues for Tuesday, October 22

Newsweek has some helpful hints to assist you with today’s game.

Yellow: Expensive taste

Green: To create something, like a plan

Blue: Famous space missions

Purple: Popular games that share a specific connection

‘Connections’ #499 Answers for Tuesday, October 22

Yellow Category: BRAND-NAME

Yellow Words: Designer, Haute, High-End, Luxury

Green Category: DEVISE

Green Words: Concoct, Engineer, Hatch, Mastermind

Blue Category: NASA SPACECRAFT

Blue Words: Galileo, Pioneer, Viking, Voyager

Purple Category: GAMES WHERE YOU SAY THE GAME’S NAME

Purple Words: Bingo, Marco Polo, Tag, Uno

Congratulations if you got Tuesday’s puzzle correct, but if you didn’t, don’t sweat it. You’ll get another chance on Wednesday when a new game will be available for you to try.

Connections is released at midnight in your local time zone, so be sure to check back with Newsweek tomorrow for more hints and answers.

Looking for a challenge in the meantime? Why not try these other popular word puzzles, like Wordscapes and Words With Friends?