NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, October 18

Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to the weekend!

I read a story recently in which several experienced professionals discussed their struggles to find a job in the video game industry. (In case you’re unaware, some 38,000 video game professionals have been laid off around the world over the last few years.)

Many went through several interviews, lengthy tests and so on before being ghosted. Others mentioned that one position can bring in thousands of applications. A recruiter talked about just how rough things are on the other side, and how it’s not a situation recruiters wanted either. I wanted to share this quote from that person (emphasis mine):

I think that’s a great mindset to have in nearly any situation. Kindness and grace are wonderful things to practice regularly (though I still refuse to tolerate the intolerant).

Before we begin, we have a great little community on Discord, where we chat about NYT Connections, the rest of the NYT games and all kinds of other stuff. Everyone who has joined has been lovely. It’s a fun hangout spot, and you’re more than welcome to join us.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, October 18 are coming right up. Let’s get rolling!

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

• HAND

• HOCK

• PEDAL

• SKATE

• BACON

• CELL

• PICKLE

• CAGE

• DODGE

• COAST

• FORD

• BREEZE

• CRUISE

• RACQUET

• FLOAT

• TRAYED

The level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

• 🟨 Yellow group — smooth moves

• 🟩 Green group — a "blast" can be a synonym of what connects these

• 🟦 Blue group — they might not have existed as long as the things in space, but these stars have still been around for many a year

• 🟪 Purple group — sounds like some retail therapy is in the offing

One Word For Each Connections Group

Be warned: we’re really starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

• 🟨 Yellow group — SKATE

• 🟩 Green group — HAND

• 🟦 Blue group — CAGE

• 🟪 Purple group — HOCK

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Need some extra help?

Today’s Connections groups are...

• 🟨 Yellow group — glide

• 🟩 Green group — words before "ball" in sports

• 🟦 Blue group — prolific actors

• 🟪 Purple group — homophones of synonyms for "vend"

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

• 🟨 Yellow group — glide (BREEZE, COAST, FLOAT, SKATE)

• 🟩 Green group — words before "ball" in sports (DODGE, HAND, PICKLE, RACQUET)

• 🟦 Blue group — prolific actors (BACON, CAGE, CRUISE, FORD)

• 🟪 Purple group — homophones of synonyms for "vend" (CELL, HOCK, PEDAL, TRAYED)

TRAYED seemed like a very odd inclusion, so I said it out loud and it sounded like "trade." That made sense when I saw CELL (sell) and HOCK (hawk) on top of each other. PEDAL (peddle) rounded out the purples for me. I did initially think that HOCK might go with BACON as types of pork products, though.

The "-ball" words were next up after I clocked RACQUET and PICKLE (gross).

Despite (Tom) CRUISE being a red herring for the yellows, I realized that the word should go with (Kevin) BACON, (Nicolas) CAGE and (Harrison) FORD.

At that point, the yellows were no problem. A breeze, as it were.

That wrapped up win 232 in a row. How did you get on?

Here's my grid for today:

🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for hints and the solution for Sunday’s game if you need them.

P.S. I really love the mid-'90s run of action films that Nic Cage had. Most actors could only dream of having The Rock, Con Air and Face/Off in a row (not to mention winning an Oscar just before that trio). I go back and forth over which of those is my favorite.

I think general consensus is that Face/Off is the best, in large part because of its bonkers concept. Cage and John Travolta do such a terrific job of echoing each other's mannerisms.

However, I've recommended that before, so I'll go with The Rock. It's so much fun, and Sean Connery is great in it. Ed Harris is always enjoyable too. Also, I can't believe I'm older than Nic Cage was when he made this film. He's looked like he's in his late 40s for the last 30 years.

I'm not necessarily recommending that you watch The Rock (as much as I dig it). Just that you watch an entertaining movie. I love getting lost in a film for a while. I hope you do that soon as well:

Ultra-super-special bonus recommendation (because I wrote all of the above before remembering about it). Cop Car is a pretty solid, suspenseful thriller. I thought Bacon was good as a menacing sheriff in this one:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

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