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NYT Connections #506 was published on Tuesday, October 29, 2024. The 16 words can be divided into four groups: things in pristine condition, medical roles, singular nouns from the famous “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears” line, and words that can come before “square.”
If you are still solving the puzzle, start with the word list and graduated hints below. The complete answers appear farther down, after a clear spoiler warning.
The 16 words in Connections #506
Here is the word grid for the October 29, 2024 puzzle:
- TIMES
- NEW
- ROMAN
- TOWN
- EAR
- FRIEND
- FELLOW
- ATTENDING
- ORIGINAL
- PERFECT
- RESIDENT
- MINT
- COUNTRYMAN
- INTERN
- UNUSED
Connections asks you to find four groups of four related words. The difficulty is that some words seem to fit more than one possible idea, so a convincing connection is not enough—you need the exact set of four.
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Hints for NYT Connections #506
These hints move from broad to specific. Stop whenever you have enough help to finish the grid yourself.
Yellow group
- Broad hint: Untouched or flawless.
- More specific hint: These words describe something in pristine condition.
- Anchor word: MINT.
Green group
- Broad hint: Doctor-related job titles.
- More specific hint: These are roles held by medical professionals at different stages of training or practice.
- Anchor word: ATTENDING.
Blue group
- Broad hint: “Et tu?”
- More specific hint: These are singular nouns that appear in a famous line from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
- Anchor word: COUNTRYMAN.
Purple group
- Broad hint: Blank followed by “square.”
- More specific hint: Each answer can come before the word SQUARE.
- Anchor word: PERFECT.
How to approach this grid
- Start with the medical roles. ATTENDING, FELLOW, INTERN, and RESIDENT form a particularly clear group once you recognize that the puzzle is mixing senior practice with training positions.
- Look for the Shakespeare quotation. COUNTRYMAN, EAR, FRIEND, and ROMAN point to Marc Antony’s famous speech in Julius Caesar.
- Group words describing pristine condition. MINT, NEW, ORIGINAL, and UNUSED all suggest an item that remains in its initial or flawless state.
- Use the remaining four words with “square.” PERFECT, POCKET, TIMES, and TOWN each create a familiar phrase or name when placed before SQUARE.
The main trap is that ordinary words such as ORIGINAL, FRIEND, and EAR invite loose associations. Connections rewards testing whether all four words fit one precise relationship, rather than accepting a pair that happens to work.
Spoiler warning: the answers to Connections #506
The complete groups are below.
Yellow: IN PRISTINE CONDITION
MINT, NEW, ORIGINAL, UNUSED
“Mint” and “new” are the most direct entries. An item described as original and unused can also be in its initial, untouched, or flawless state. The category is phrased as “IN PRISTINE CONDITION,” rather than simply “new,” because the four words do not all function as exact synonyms in every context.
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Green: MEDICAL ROLES
ATTENDING, FELLOW, INTERN, RESIDENT
These are medical roles or training positions. An attending is a physician who has completed training and practices independently, while a fellow, intern, and resident represent other recognizable stages or roles in medical education and practice. The group deliberately combines terms with different levels of seniority.
Blue: SINGULAR NOUNS IN A FAMOUS JULIUS CAESAR LINE
COUNTRYMAN, EAR, FRIEND, ROMAN
These words refer to Marc Antony’s famous line: “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.” The board uses the singular forms FRIEND, ROMAN, COUNTRYMAN, and EAR, even though the quotation is commonly remembered with the plural forms “friends,” “Romans,” “countrymen,” and “ears.”
Purple: ___ SQUARE
PERFECT, POCKET, TIMES, TOWN
Each word precedes “square” in a recognized phrase or proper name:
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- Perfect square — a number that is the square of an integer.
- Pocket square — a folded piece of fabric worn in a jacket pocket.
- Times Square — the well-known New York City location and name.
- Town square — a central public space in a town.
This is the likely red-herring-heavy group because the four entries are otherwise ordinary words that can initially seem to belong with the semantic categories.
Why the puzzle can feel misleading
Connections often hides a straightforward category behind words with multiple possible uses. In this grid, NEW, ORIGINAL, and UNUSED overlap conceptually, but the intended group is broader than a strict synonym set: all four describe something in pristine condition. Meanwhile, FRIEND and EAR may look like general conversational words until COUNTRYMAN and ROMAN reveal the Shakespeare connection.
The compound-word group is best left until the other relationships are secure. Once the medical, quotation, and pristine-condition groups are removed, PERFECT, POCKET, TIMES, and TOWN are forced into the four phrases ending in “square.”
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Can you still play Connections #506?
Yes. This is a historical puzzle from October 29, 2024, not a reference to a current daily puzzle. Connections presents 16 words and asks players to divide them into four groups of four. You can submit a group guess, and an incorrect guess costs one of the puzzle’s available mistakes. The game is offered through The New York Times Games website and app, with daily-puzzle and streak features.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Play more Connections puzzles offline
If you enjoy this type of word association, the official Connections puzzle book, Connections: Find the Common Threads in 100+ Puzzles of Wit and Wordplay, is a print collection built around the category-matching format. It is a useful option for readers who want additional puzzles away from a screen; it should not be assumed to include puzzle #506 unless the product description specifically says so.
For a wider selection, Puzzle Mania!: Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, Minis and More! collects Connections alongside several other New York Times Games. It is a broader New York Times Games puzzle collection rather than a book devoted only to Connections.
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What are the answers to NYT Connections #506?
The groups are: MINT, NEW, ORIGINAL, UNUSED (in pristine condition); ATTENDING, FELLOW, INTERN, RESIDENT (medical roles); COUNTRYMAN, EAR, FRIEND, ROMAN (singular nouns in a famous Julius Caesar line); and PERFECT, POCKET, TIMES, TOWN (___ SQUARE).
When was NYT Connections #506 published?
Connections #506 was published on Tuesday, October 29, 2024. It is a past puzzle, so it should not be described as the current puzzle outside that date.
Best Value
- Compatible with Windows and Android.
- 1000Hz Polling Rate (for 2.4G and wired connection)
- Hall Effect joysticks and Hall triggers. Wear-resistant metal joystick rings.
- Extra R4/L4 bumpers. Custom button mapping without using software. Turbo function.
- Refined bumpers and D-pad. Light but tactile.
What Shakespeare quotation is used in the blue group?
The group refers to Marc Antony’s line from Julius Caesar: “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.” The puzzle uses the singular forms FRIEND, ROMAN, COUNTRYMAN, and EAR.
The Bottom Line
The cleanest solve for Connections #506 is to identify the medical roles first, recognize the Julius Caesar quotation second, group the pristine-condition terms third, and leave the four “___ SQUARE” phrases for the end.
Quick Recap
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