If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Friday, October 6, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for October 6, NYT Connections #117! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game. By the way, we’ve moved the basic “how to play” instructions to the very end of the page—just a heads up in case you’re used to scrolling down a few screens when you open this post.
If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.
Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And further down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!
Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?
This one is full of literary and artistic references, although nothing too obscure. It will help to know children’s stories, pop stars, Shakespeare, and modern art.
Here are some definitions of lesser-known words in today’s puzzle:
ROFL is an old internet abbreviation for “rolling on the floor laughing.” See also: ROFLMAO (“rolling on the floor laughing my ass off”), and LMFAO (“laughing my fucking ass off”).
DECO refers to Art Deco (short for Arts Décoratifs), a style from the 1920s that you’ve definitely seen, even if you don’t know the name of it. It’s futuristic and mythological at the same time; think winged hood ornaments, geometric patterns, half-naked figures representing science or industry, the Empire state building.
Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle
Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:
Yellow category - I’m in hysterics.
Green category - Paintings and architecture.
Blue category - Second star to the right, and straight on ’til morning.
Purple category - We’re going to a concert. Or a casino. Or a theater.
Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?
The purple category is a fill-in-the-blank again.
Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.
BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!
We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)
What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?
MACBETH can be the Shakespeare play, its title character, or a reference to his wife, Lady MACBETH.
DADA is among a baby’s first words; it’s also an art movement that “embraced and parodied confusion,” as the Smithsonian writes in their attempt to explain where it came from and why its works are so weird.
GAGA can refer to more baby babble, or the pop star (Lady GAGA) or arguably the Queen song from which she took her name, “Radio Ga Ga.” Note the space, though.
DEAD is the state of not being alive, but I’ll give you the hint that it’s meant here not as literal death but as hyperbole.
What are the categories in today’s Connections?
Yellow: LAUGHTER, IN A TEXT
Green: ART MOVEMENTS
Blue: “PETER PAN” CHARACTERS
Purple: LADY ____
DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW
Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.
What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?
The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is LAUGHTER, IN A TEXT and the words are: DEAD, HAHA, LOL, ROFL.
What are the green words in today’s Connections?
The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is ART MOVEMENTS and the words are: DADA, DECO, GOTHIC, POP.
What are the blue words in today’s Connections?
The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is “PETER PAN” CHARACTERS and the words are: HOOK, NANA, PETER, WENDY.
What are the purple words in today’s Connections?
The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is LADY ____ and the words are: BIRD, GAGA, LUCK, MACBETH. (“Lady LUCK” being the personification of good fortune, and “Lady BIRD” being either LBJ’s wife or the 2017 Greta Gerwig movie.)
How I solved today’s Connections
GAGA, HAHA, DADA, and NANA can’t possibly go together. That would be too easy.
But if we go with Lady GAGA, we can match her up with Lady MACBETH, Lady LUCK, and...this might be a stretch, but Lady BIRD? Yep, that’s it.
DADA is an art movement, as is DECO. We can add POP art, but what else? I think of GOTHIC as an old style of architecture, medieval even (versus these more modern art forms), but it’s the only one that arguably fits—and it turns out that’s correct.
HAHA goes with ROFL and LOL, obviously. Of the remaining words, DEAD is the only other one likely to communicate hilarity, although it’s more often spelled “💀”.
That leaves four characters from Peter Pan: HOOK, WENDY, PETER, and NANA. Nana? Oh right, their nanny who happened to be a dog—“possibly the most famous Newfoundland in English literature,” according to the Newfoundland Club of America.
Connections Puzzle #117 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦
How to play Connections
I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:
First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).
Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.
You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.
How to win Connections
The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.
If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.
Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!