If you’re looking for the October 19 Connections hints and answers, we’ve got you covered right here:

Hey there, Connectors! I hope your week is off to a great start.

It’s that time of year, when many of us will watch a scary movie or two (or 30) ahead of Halloween. Over the weekend, I decided to get started with one I’d been meaning to watch for a while. Fall is more of a thriller than a horror film, but it fit the bill all the same.

I thought it was decent enough. It’s well-made and, even if I thought the characters made some baffling decisions (beyond climbing a 2,000-foot tower in the middle of nowhere and getting stuck), I enjoyed it. The sequel’s up next for me, I think!

Before we start, we’ve got a lovely community on Discord , where we chat about Connections , the rest of the NYT games and all kinds of things. You’re more than welcome to join us!

Also, my weekend editions of this column are available over on my newsletter, Pastimes . I sometimes write about other things that are on my mind there as well.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, October 20 are coming right up. Let’s get rolling!

Connections is a free New York Times daily word game that you can play on the NYT ’s website or Games app. If you have an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the Connections archive, which includes every previous game.

Connections presents you with a grid of 16 words (sometimes phrases, symbols or numbers). The aim is to arrange them into four groups of four. You don’t know how they hit together or what the category for each group is: that’s what you have to figure out.

There’s only one correct solution and there are often red herrings. You can guess incorrectly three times. A fourth wrong guess, and it’s game over.

Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to deduce, followed by green, blue and purple. Often, the yellow and green groups have synonyms, the blues have cultural references and the purples have some kind of wordplay involved. But this is not a hard and fast rule. Be ready for curveballs – part of the fun of Connections is in how the NYT shakes things up to keep you on your toes.

As with Wordle and similar games, it’s easy to share results with your friends using an emoji-based grid. The game tracks your progress too.

Many players take pride in having long win streaks or getting a reverse rainbow – correctly guessing the purple, blue, green and yellow groups in that order with no mistakes. That adds an extra little challenge.

Today’s NYT Connections Word List

After today’s Connections word list, I’ll give you a hint for each category. After that, I’ll reveal one word that goes into each group. Then I’ll reveal the categories, followed by the full answers.

  • CHEVRON
  • DOCK
  • BELL
  • PENCIL
  • POODLE
  • WRAP
  • MINI
  • MINION
  • WALRUS
  • PUPPET
  • CLOSE
  • HORSESHOE
  • ARIAL
  • STOP
  • STOOGE
  • END

Today’s NYT Connections Hints

The hints for today’s Connections categories are:

  • 🟨 Yellow group — no more
  • 🟩 Green group — underling
  • 🟦 Blue group — Freddie Mercury, Mr. Monopoly, Ron Swanson and Charlie Chaplin are among their famous proponents
  • 🟪 Purple group — would he, jazzmen, wallie and “ah, nah” would fit in here

One Answer For Each NYT Connections Group

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one answer for each group.

  • 🟨 Yellow group — WRAP
  • 🟩 Green group — PUPPET
  • 🟦 Blue group — WALRUS
  • 🟪 Purple group — MINI

Today’s NYT Connections Categories

Today’s Connections groups are...

  • 🟨 Yellow group — finish
  • 🟩 Green group — lackey
  • 🟦 Blue group — mustaches
  • 🟪 Purple group — homophones of Disney characters

Today’s NYT Connections Answer

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your last chance to look away.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

  • 🟨 Yellow group — finish (CLOSE, END, STOP, WRAP)
  • 🟩 Green group — lackey (MINION, POODLE, PUPPET, STOOGE)
  • 🟦 Blue group — mustaches (CHEVRON, HORSESHOE, PENCIL, WALRUS)
  • 🟪 Purple group — homophones of Disney characters (ARIAL, BELL, DOCK, MINI)

I got the yellows and greens pretty quickly. No issue at all with either of those.

I did think of ARIAL pretty early on as Ariel (from The Little Mermaid ), but I thought that was how her name was spelled! As I got down to eight remaining words, I realized that BELL (Belle from Beauty and the Beast ), DOCK (I was thinking of Doc from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ) and MINI (Minnie Mouse) fit.

I didn’t deduce the blue category, but I’m okay with that. In any case, that’s 597 wins in a row for me.

How did you get on this time? Here’s my grid:

Want to know more about how everything fits together? Let’s explore today’s game in more depth in my NYT Connections Answers Explained column. You can check that out by visiting my author page .

Be sure to check my blog for hints and the answer for tomorrow’s game of Connections if you need them.

P.S. I think Nile Rodgers and Chic had one of the best-ever appearances on NPR’s Tiny Desk a few years ago. Rather than the usual four(ish) songs, they played six, all of which are utterly brilliant. Rodgers is an all-time great songwriter, and this is a great 30-minute encapsulation of his talent, as well as that of his band:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Please follow my blog for more NYT Connections hints and help with other word games, and even some video game news, insights and analysis. I’d really appreciate that as it helps me out. If you share this column with others who play Connections, that would be lovely too. You can also read my weekend editions of this column and more of my writing at my newsletter, Pastimes .