NYT Connections Hints & Answers — Sunday, October 20, 2024 (#497)

Puzzle #497. Start with a gentle nudge and work down — the full answers are at the bottom, hidden until you ask for them.

Just tell me the answer

The NYT Connections answer for Sunday, October 20, 2024 (puzzle #497) is: YELLOW — BIT OF NEWSPAPER WRITING: ARTICLE, COLUMN, FEATURE, STORY. GREEN — NOISY DISTURBANCE: CLATTER, RACKET, ROW, RUCKUS. BLUE — TABLE TENNIS NEEDS: BALL, NET, PADDLE, TABLE. PURPLE — HOMOPHONES OF COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS: BUTT, FORE, OAR, SEW.

Today's 16 words

The grid exactly as NYT laid it out for Sunday, October 20, 2024. Nothing below this point is spoiled until you open it.

PADDLE
SEW
ROW
STORY
OAR
FORE
COLUMN
RACKET
NET
BUTT
FEATURE
BALL
CLATTER
TABLE
RUCKUS
ARTICLE

How hard is Connections #497?

Medium52/100
  • One category runs on wordplay rather than meaning.
  • Lots of very short words, which carry more possible meanings.

Where to start: Every category here is meaning-based, so group by topic first and use the four-per-group constraint to settle any word that could go two ways.

Connections hints for Sunday, October 20, 2024

Four levels, each giving away a little more. Open only as many as you need.

NYT Connections answers for Sunday, October 20, 2024

Keep playing

PuzzlePage is an independent fan site. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by The New York Times Company. Connections and Wordle are trademarks of The New York Times Company.

Common questions

What is the NYT Connections answer for Sunday, October 20, 2024?

The NYT Connections answer for Sunday, October 20, 2024 (puzzle #497) is: YELLOW — BIT OF NEWSPAPER WRITING: ARTICLE, COLUMN, FEATURE, STORY. GREEN — NOISY DISTURBANCE: CLATTER, RACKET, ROW, RUCKUS. BLUE — TABLE TENNIS NEEDS: BALL, NET, PADDLE, TABLE. PURPLE — HOMOPHONES OF COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS: BUTT, FORE, OAR, SEW.

What is the purple group in Connections #497?

The purple (hardest) group is "HOMOPHONES OF COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS": BUTT, FORE, OAR, SEW.

What is the easiest group in today's Connections puzzle?

The yellow group is the most straightforward: "BIT OF NEWSPAPER WRITING" — ARTICLE, COLUMN, FEATURE, STORY. Solving it first removes four words from the grid.

What number is today's Connections puzzle?

Sunday, October 20, 2024 is NYT Connections puzzle #497. Connections launched on 12 June 2023 with puzzle #1, and a new puzzle is published every day.

What time does a new NYT Connections puzzle come out?

A new Connections puzzle unlocks at midnight in your own local time zone, so the changeover happens at a different moment around the world. The puzzle itself is the same for everyone on a given date.