Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteNYT Connections puzzle #498, dated Monday, October 21, 2024, groups words about beans, attraction, automatic gear-shifter positions and words that pair with “pool.” Start with the hints below if you want to solve it yourself; the full groups follow the spoiler warning.
Hints for Connections #498
- Yellow: Four words name varieties of a familiar food.
- Green: These verbs can mean to attract or draw someone in.
- Blue: Think of labels on an automatic car’s gear shifter.
- Purple: Add the same word after each answer to make a compound word or phrase.
Category hints
- Yellow: Kinds of beans.
- Green: Attract.
- Blue: Automatic gear-shifter positions.
- Purple: Words that complete “___pool.”
Full answers for puzzle #498
Spoiler warning: The complete groups and all 16 words are below.
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Kinds of beans | KIDNEY, MUNG, NAVY, PINTO |
| Green | Attract | DRAW, GRAB, HOOK, PULL |
| Blue | Automatic gear-shifter positions | DRIVE, LOW, NEUTRAL, REVERSE |
| Purple | ___pool | CAR, DEAD, LIVER, WHIRL |
How the word connections work
Yellow: Kinds of beans
KIDNEY, MUNG, NAVY and PINTO are all beans. LIVER is a tempting decoy because it is an organ like KIDNEY, but it belongs in the purple group. In TechRadar’s October 20, 2024 guide, Marc McLaren reported initially guessing LIVER rather than NAVY for the bean set. McLaren also noted that navy beans are called haricot beans in the UK.
Green: Attract
DRAW, GRAB, HOOK and PULL can each describe attracting someone or drawing their attention.
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Blue: Automatic gear-shifter positions
DRIVE, LOW, NEUTRAL and REVERSE are positions found on an automatic gear shifter.
Purple: ___pool
Put “pool” after each word: carpool, dead pool, liver pool and whirlpool. This is the word-completion connection that ties together the four remaining entries.
Rank #2
How Connections works
The game presents 16 words for players to divide into four groups of four, with each group sharing a connection. Select four words and submit them as a guess; Forbes’ October 20, 2024 guide says four incorrect guesses end the game. Yellow is usually the easiest category and purple usually the hardest, with purple often relying on wordplay—but those are general tendencies, not guarantees for every puzzle.
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