NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, October 28 (game #870)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing ‘today’s game’ while others are playing ‘yesterday’s’. If you’re looking for Monday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, October 27 (game #869).

Good morning! Let’s play Connections, the NYT’s clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

NYT Connections today (game #870) – hint #1 – group hints

What are some clues for today’s NYT Connections groups?

YELLOW: Dull views
GREEN: The inside track
BLUE: A device that’s not just for changing channels
PURPLE: Vocalists with a bit extra

Need more clues?

We’re firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today’s NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #870) – the answers

NYT Connections answers for game 870 on a purple background — (Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today’s Connections, game #870, are…

YELLOW: BANALITY CHESTNUT, CLICHÉ, PLATITUDE, TROPE
GREEN: IN THE KNOW AWARE, HIP, SAVVY, WISE
BLUE: REMOTE CONTROL BUTTONS BACK, HOME, MENU, SELECT
PURPLE: ONE-NAMED SINGER PLUS STARTING LETTER GUSHER, KENYA, OCHER, PELVIS

My rating: Hard
My score: 1 mistake

I am sure I was not the only player tempted by the idea of forming a connection between HIP, BACK, and PELVIS today. The only thing that stopped me from putting them in a group was the lack of a fourth body part.

My mistake came in what would later become BANALITY – I had GUSHER (as in someone who gushes banally about a celebrity or a paid-for sponsored product) instead of CHESTNUT, which I forgot was slang for a stale joke or point of view.

I was delighted to get the purple/hardest group before the end. The giveaway was PELVIS, but the group also featured someone I’ve interviewed in my past life as a music journalist in what was quite possibly the most awkward 30 minutes of my life after I upset them with a cheeky question about an alleged affair and they spent the rest of the interview answering either “yes”, “no” or “I don’t care”.

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don’t technically need to solve the final one, as you’ll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What’s more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It’s a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.