This one was half easy, half tricky for me; I got the first two groups in a HEARTBEAT and then nearly PANICked trying to figure out the rest. If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Monday, October 30, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for October 30, NYT Connections #141! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.
If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.
Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!
Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?
Table of Contents
There’s a category here that’s based on a game. If you haven’t played that game, you might just need to figure out that category by the process of elimination.
Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle
Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:
- Yellow category – Let me try a holiday-appropriate hint: trick or tweet?
- Green category – Quick!
- Blue category – I’m not playing games with you here…
- Purple category – Press it.
Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?
There’s a fill-in-the-blank for the purple category.
Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.
BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!
We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)
What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?
- WING, WINK, and WIND are all in different categories today.
- WING and TALON are parts of a flying creature, but it’s not a DRAGON.
- The FLASH is a fast superhero, but today we’re using the word metaphorically.
- You can SNOOZE in bed, but today you might want to think about the SNOOZE function on your alarm.
What are the categories in today’s Connections?
- Yellow: BIRD FEATURES
- Green: BLINK OF AN EYE
- Blue: MAHJONG TILES
- Purple: ____ BUTTON
DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW
Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.
What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?
The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is BIRD FEATURES and the words are: BEAK, FEATHER, TALON, WING.
What are the green words in today’s Connections?
The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is BLINK OF AN EYE and the words are: FLASH, HEARTBEAT, SECOND, WINK.
What are the blue words in today’s Connections?
The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is MAHJONG TILES and the words are: BAMBOO, DRAGON, SEASON, WIND.
What are the purple words in today’s Connections?
The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is ____ BUTTON and the words are: BELLY, HOT, PANIC, SNOOZE.
How I solved today’s Connections
About half the words appeared to belong to flying creatures, with the DRAGONs and TALONs and all, but I boldly selected four as being birdlike: BEAK, FEATHER, TALON, WING. I was right. 🟨 (I normally do a little more due diligence. This definitely could have gone much more poorly.)
In a FLASH, in a WINK, in a SECOND, in a HEARTBEAT. Another set of gut feelings that panned out for me. 🟩
It took me a minute to get the next one. Why would PANIC be here? Why would BELLY be here? I thought about the SNOOZE button on an alarm clock and then I got it: HOT button rounded out the group. 🟪
The last one was a mystery to me. I have played mahjong, some digital at least, but don’t quiz me on the rules. BAMBOO, SEASON, DRAGON, and WIND are among the tiles. 🟦
Connections
Puzzle #141
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How to play Connections
I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:
First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).
Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.
You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.
How to win Connections
The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.
If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.
Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!