Happy Tuesday, and welcome to another NYT Connections hints guide, courtesy of Insider Gaming. Today’s puzzle is a neat one for sports fans and technophiles, but some of the words might catch you out. I was especially stumped by ‘WIIS’ until I managed to figure it out, and with these hints, you can too.
Check out the full spread of NYT Connections hints I’ve got for you today.
What is NYT Connections?
It would be remiss of me not to give a little foundational backstory before leaping into today’s NYT Connections clues and hints.
In June 2023, NYT Connections emerged as yet another game in the ever-growing New York Times lineup. This title soared immediately, and it’s easy to see why. As a free-to-play, accessible New York Times game, NYT Connections is available to users worldwide and can be played on either desktop devices or via a mobile app.
Playing NYT Connections on your commute or while waiting for a coffee is a fantastic way to kill a few minutes.
But how do you play NYT Connections?
It’s relatively simple, and that’s why it’s the best New York Times game, in my opinion.
The NYT team will provide you with a grid of 16 words once a day. The only task left up to you is to sort those words into four groups of four by finding their commonalities. Every NYT Connections puzzle has just one solution, and some words might have a double meaning, so it can sometimes be tricky to figure out the answers.
It’s also important to stress that the words are color-coded: yellow, blue, green, and purple. That’s in order of difficulty from least to most difficult, too.
What’s critical here is that you get four guesses every day, and if you use those, your NYT Connections answers for today will be out of reach, as it’ll be game over.
Today’s NYT Connections Hints (October 21)
If you want to figure out today’s NYT Connections clues without getting the answers outright, I’ll get started with the words themselves. Perhaps just seeing the words here will be enough to spur your brain into action, and you’ll spot the trends immediately.
Here are the NYT Connections words from today’s puzzle, #863:
- BUCKS
- DOES
- BULLS
- DRONES
- QUEENS
- HORNETS
- ADDRESSES
- TELEVISIONS
- GARAGE DOORS
- HANDLES
- KINGS
- JACKS
- SPURS
- ACES
- TACKLES
- WIIS
And here are the hints I can offer for today’s NYT Connections:
- Yellow – Think of what you’d find in a deck, especially the face cards and their high-ranking companions. These are the usual suspects in a game of poker.
- Green – Each word here suggests stepping up to a task or responsibility. If someone says “I’ll ___ it,” any of these could complete the sentence.
- Blue – These are all fierce competitors in the NBA. Picture mascots, slam dunks, and team jerseys—each one represents a franchise.
- Purple – If you’ve got a controller in hand, you might be operating one of these. From flying tech to home access to entertainment systems, these are all things you can command from a distance.
Here’s the final warning before we get to the NYT Connections answers for today, October 21.
Are you sure you want to scroll further?
Very well!
NYT Connections Answers for Today, October 21 (#863)
If you want to jump straight to the answers for today’s NYT Connections puzzle, I’ve got you covered:
- Yellow – ACES, JACKS, KINGS, QUEENS
- Green – ADDRESSES, DOES, HANDLES, TACKLES
- Blue – BUCKS, BULLS, HORNETS, SPURS
- Purple – DRONES, GARAGE DOORS, TELEVISIONS, WIIS
When Does NYT Connections Reset?
That’s today’s puzzle, but if you want the next one, the game resets daily at midnight local time (that’s your local time). You’ll have 24 hours to complete the puzzle when midnight ticks over in your timezone.
How did you do? Did you get a perfect run? Let me know what your streak looks like on the Insider Gaming Discord server
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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