Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers for Oct. 18, #495

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Need the answers for the New York Times Connections puzzle? To me, Wordle is more of a vocabulary test, but Connections is more of a brainteaser. You’re given 16 words and asked to put them into four groups that are somehow connected. Sometimes they’re obvious, but game editor Wyna Liu knows how to trick you by using words that can fit into more than one group. Read on for today’s Connections hints and answers.

There’s also news in the Connections world. The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one it’s had for some time for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. And players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: NYT Connections Could Be the New Wordle: Our Hints and Tips

How to play Connections

Playing is easy. Winning is hard. Look at the 16 words and mentally assign them to related groups of four. Click on the four words you think go together. The groups are coded by color, though you don’t know what goes where until you see the answers. The yellow group is the easiest, then green, then blue, and purple is the toughest. Look at the words carefully and think about related terms. Sometimes the connection has to do with just a part of the word. Once, four words were grouped because each started with the name of a rock band, including “Rushmore” and “Journeyman.”

Read more: New NYT Connections Game for Sports Fans Lets Players Swing for the Fences

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest, yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Not good

Green group hint: Step up to the plate

Blue group hint: Don’t need greenbacks

Purple group hint: Think Jeff Bezos

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Clunker

Green group: Opportunity

Blue group: Non-cash way to pay

Purple group: Amazon ____

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is clunker. The four answers are bust, dud, flop and miss.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is opportunity. The four answers are chance, shot, time and turn.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is non-cash way to pay. The four answers are card, charge, credit and plastic.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Amazon ____. The four answers are Kindle, Prime, rainforest and river.