Connections Puzzle Answers & Hints: Solve Puzzle #497 (October 21, 2024)

Crack the Code! Hints and Answers for Today's Connections puzzle (October 21, 2024 - Puzzle #497)

Struggling with Today's Connections Puzzle? Let's Get You Unstuck!

Today's Connections puzzle is a real brain-teaser! Some words are super obscure, and even the seemingly easy ones might throw you. If you're running low on guesses, don't worry – we've got your back. We'll walk you through the answers and give some clues so you can finally solve this fiendish five-by-five crossword!

Before we jump into those clues, if you like these kinds of puzzles, the NYT Letter Boxed puzzle is great, it lets you guess until you nail the answer, which can really ease those stresses about trying again, again, again until success happens! However, you also have those complex rules involved and it is a brain-bender in itself, but worth the effort! Even more word games exist– wordle (from NYT), Worldle, the password game, even Absurdle exist!

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Connections Puzzle Hints: A Helping Hand for Your Brainpower

This puzzle might seem easy but is surprisingly tricky. A couple of those words really don’t pop out to the average user easily; even more difficult given that some users might be more easily triggered in those specific word selections depending on user preference! However, if you just know what to expect, it gets easier!

Here are some hints for those categories. The category titles themselves might even help if the words themselves aren’t already giving things away easily:

KINDS OF BEANS: Think kitchen staples and those often forgotten beans!
ATTRACT: Words that describe ways to draw things in.
AUTOMATIC GEAR SHIFTER POSITIONS: Common car settings!
___POOL: Something to gather near or collect.

Still stuck? Check out the answers and category titles beLow – it often helps solve these kind of games. But don’t look until you really, really tried everything!

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Connections Puzzle Answers: The Solutions Revealed!

KINDS OF BEANS

KIDNEY
MUNG
NAVY
PINTO

This category includes a wide variety of beans. Many people would likely instantly know three of the beans–but only really seasoned chefs would likely instantly get what those beans would look like or taste like. Mung beans however really aren’t typically seen and for those who haven’t tried them – the category might appear totally out of nowhere! Even something familiar might appear unusual!

ATTRACT

A horse in Connections Categories October 21 Image

DRAW
GRAB
HOOK
PULL

This category really had us stumped too! Initially we wondered what words mean “attract,” but it seems these words would work equally well if reworded and made to highlight actions associated with “capturing.” “Draw” can refer to artistic work, however it is related to the more literal meaning. Overall, these might have less to do with actually “attracting,” and are actually more about some associated action such as "pulling something towards oneself."

AUTOMATIC GEAR SHIFTER POSITIONS

DRIVE
LOW
NEUTRAL
REVERSE

Seems obvious, right? Many users could’ve guessed this far too quickly. It was tricky! Initially some common choices (“park,” or "drive") might not automatically jump into user minds; for many older drivers who might have forgotten; that could completely complicate this entire category! It becomes less easy than people assume and this showcases a deep and subtle challenge embedded into the seemingly simplest answers.

___POOL

CAR
DEAD
LIVER
WHIRL

This category came easily! We realized what it means! “Whirlpool!” That clue gave everything away! Once we knew what "whirlpool" meant – things really get clearer, highlighting those kinds of clues given and making that whole experience simpler. After that, others such as “Carpool,” "deadpool,” and even “liverpool” popped into mind very easily.

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Conclusion: Mastering Today's Connections Puzzle (and Others!)

Those seemingly simple puzzles have tons of nuances! It often becomes even harder to do depending on those smaller choices that the puzzles' developers made; some really unexpected selections can add levels of complexity! Remember those easy hints, those tips we provided— those are great when trying to complete these and the answers should only be revealed once everything's attempted. Those hints above are really excellent for a variety of users; but this also assumes users are at least somewhat familiar with certain terminology. Using multiple attempts for some of these really hard categories and understanding some of those assumptions might really help! There’s always plenty more fun to be had, though! Check out all those other puzzle games; you might find other brain teasers even more compelling than these ones we looked at today!