Today's Notes and Answers on NYT Connections October 18, #495

Looking for that Latest Answers to connections? Click here for today's Connections tips, as well as our daily answers and clues for the New York Times Mini Crosswords, Word Puzzles and Strands Puzzles.

Need answers to the New York Times Connections puzzle? For me, Wordle is more of a vocabulary test, but Connections is more of a brainteaser. You are given 16 words and asked to divide them into four groups that are somehow connected. Sometimes they're obvious, but games editor Wyna Liu knows how to trick you by using words that fit into more than one group. Read on for today's Connections hints and answers.

There is also news in the Connections world. The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one it has had for Wordle for some time. After playing, go there to get a numerical score and have the program analyze your answers. And players registered in the Times Games section can now track their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of maximum points achieved and their winning streak.

Read more: NYT connections could be the new word: Our hints and tips

How to play Connections

Playing is easy. Winning is hard. Look at the 16 words and mentally place them into related groups of four. Click on the four words that you think go together. The groups are color coded, but you won't know what goes where until you see the answers. The yellow group is the easiest, then green, then blue and purple is the hardest. Look carefully at the words and think about related terms. Sometimes the connection only consists of part of the word. Four words used to be grouped together because each began with the name of a rock band, including “Rushmore” and “Journeyman.”

Read more: New NYT Connections game for sports fans has players swinging for the fences

Notes for today's Connections groups

Here are four clues for the groupings in today's Connections puzzle, ordered from the easiest yellow group to the difficult (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Note on the yellow group: Not good

Note from the green group: Step up to the plate

Note on the blue group: I don't need greenbacks

Note on the purple group: Think of Jeff Bezos

Answers for today's Connections groups

Yellow group: Clunker

Green group: Opportunity

Blue group: Cashless payment method

Purple group: Amazon____

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here are the most popular letters used in English words

What are today's Connections answers?

The yellow words in today's Connections

The topic is clunker. The four answers are Bust, Dud, Flop and Miss.

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is opportunity. The four answers are chance, shot, time and twist.

The blue words in today's Connections

The topic is cashless payment. The four answers are card, fee, credit and plastic.

The purple words in today's Connections

The topic is Amazon ____. The four answers are Kindle, Prime, Rainforest and River.