If you want to achieve the dream of having a never-ending streak in Connections, you will want to ensure you are making good decisions about your answers. Today’s puzzle looks particularly challenging at first glance due to the similar starting letter in all words. It can be hard to parse out a puzzle like this, but once you figure out some of the categories, it gets more accessible little by little. Here are our clues to help you get through this one.
If you want to take a break from a challenging Connections puzzle, you can always try out the NYT Vertex puzzle. It is usually a little less challenging, as you are mainly tasked with connecting the dots to create a pretty picture. While you have to take into account how many lines can be connected to each dot, it is an excellent way to relax and take a break from other hard puzzles.
Today’s Connections Category Hints
OCTOBER 04 #480
Today’s puzzle presents an interesting challenge as while many categories often have to do with a specific letter, in this case, all the words use the same starting letter. This can make distinguishing hard, especially when words all appear similar. However, there are ways to make this easier as you find the clues hidden within the puzzle. To help you with that, here are our own clues:
- One category is about the shape of an object.
- One category is about an amount of something.
- One category is about specific individuals.
- One category is about four words coming in front of the same word, which you would mark on a calendar.
If that still isn’t enough to decode the puzzle, you can check out the following category names to better understand how to organize the words. Once you do, if you still need help, we have full spoilers for each category further down.
 | CONCAVITY |
 | SMALL AMOUNT |
 | DISNEY CHARACTERS |
 | ___ DATE |
Today’s Connections Answers
OCTOBER 04 #480
Yellow Answers: Revealed & Explained
CONCAVITY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
DENT | DIMPLE | DING | DIVOT |
This category made sense to me but was not the first one I got. Some of the words between this category and the green category today can feel like they cross over or at least look similar enough at first glance to trick less careful players. DENT and DING are perhaps the most obvious, whereas DIMPLE might not catch your attention immediately, and DIVOT makes sense to me but might not to everyone as it is a more unusual word. All of these things are dips on a surface, which is why they are grouped together here.
Green Answers: Revealed & Explained
SMALL AMOUNT | |||
|---|---|---|---|
DAB | DASH | DOLLOP | DROP |
This category confused me for a little while. I could tell that DOLLOP, DASH, and DROP all meant nearly the same thing, but I either misclicked or missed the entire word DAB until later. I am not sure what I used instead because the remaining words would not have made sense, but at least I got there. I also originally put DASH in the next category, as that is also the name of a Disney character, so there were a couple of contributing factors to the difficulty.
Blue Answers: Revealed & Explained
DISNEY CHARACTERS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
DAISY | DALE | DOC | DORY |
This one caught my attention because of the previous category, as I saw DASH, DORY, and DAISY and thought I had the right idea. It turns out I did, but I had the wrong name. Originally, I added DALE, which was one of my aunt’s favorites, but figuring out that it was DOC instead of DASH took me a moment. Luckily, it was not a puzzle-ending moment, and I made the correct substitution. Somehow, I managed to figure out this category first, but proper names are often easier to eliminate than other words.
Purple Answers: Revealed & Explained
___ DATE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
DELIVERY | DINNER | DREAM | DUE |
Often the hardest kind of category name to figure out, this was the last one on my list. DINNER and DUE are probably the biggest hints for those who attempt to solve this category earlier, as they are likely the ones used the most. DELIVERY is not far behind, but DREAM is a little more rare to hear. This type of category always feels obvious to me after the fact, but they are hard to spot beforehand when you are searching for similar-meaning words.
Other Games Like Connections
If you like Connections, there are a lot of other word-based puzzles out there that can tickle your fancy. Crosswordle is one of them, and it has the added challenge of trying to solve two different intersecting Wordle puzzles at once.
