NYT Connections hints for October 19 (Game #861): Today’s categories, gentle nudges, and the full answers
The newest NYT Connections puzzle (Game #861) for Sunday, October 19 is tripping up plenty of streaks with clever overlaps and one particularly cheeky trick in the hardest group. Below you’ll find light clues to get you moving, followed by the complete set of categories and answers. If you only want a nudge, stop after the hint sections.
How NYT Connections #861 feels today
Today’s grid leans “moderate but sneaky.” The easiest set is straightforward if you think physical mishaps, while the toughest relies on familiar candy-bar names with a one-letter twist. The middle groups are classic fare—expect a clean set built around the anatomy of a book and a group of verbs that become idioms when you add “out.”
Gentle nudges (no spoilers)
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Think toppling for one group—different flavors of taking a spill.
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Think paperback parts for another—items you can point to on the outside of a book.
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For a third set, take common verbs and mentally tack on “out.”
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The final set hides in plain sight: chocolate-bar names that change with one letter added.
Category-level hints (spoilers for themes only)
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Yellow — TOPPLE
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Green — PARTS OF A BOOK
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Blue — LOSE IT, WITH “OUT”
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Purple — CHOCOLATE BARS PLUS A LETTER
Full answers for NYT Connections October 19 (#861)
Yellow (Topple): FALL, SPILL, TUMBLE, WIPEOUT
Green (Parts of a book): COVER, JACKET, LEAVES, SPINE
Blue (Lose it, with “out”): BUG, FLIP, FREAK, WIG
Purple (Chocolate bars + a letter): CRUNCHY, DOVER, MARSH, SKORT
Why Purple works: start with familiar bar names—CRUNCH, DOVE, MARS, SKOR—then add a letter to each to form valid words.
Strategy notes to preserve your streak
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Pin the book set early. “JACKET” and “SPINE” almost never drift; once you spot them, the Green group locks quickly and reduces crossover noise.
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Quarantine the “out” verbs. Say each candidate aloud with “out”: bug out, flip out, freak out, wig out. Hearing the idiom helps prevent you from tossing “FLIP” into the spill group by mistake.
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Separate physical vs. idiomatic chaos. “FALL,” “SPILL,” and “TUMBLE” describe literal motion; “FREAK” and “FLIP” feel emotional. That split is the key to Yellow vs. Blue.
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Save Purple for last. When a set looks “almost candy,” test the letter-add: MARS → MARSH, DOVE → DOVER, SKOR → SKORT, CRUNCH → CRUNCHY. If two convert cleanly, you’ve likely found the trick.
Common pitfalls in today’s grid
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FLIP tries to lure you into Yellow. Resist it—its best home is with “out.”
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LEAVES might feel botanical, but it’s a legitimate book term (think “loose-leaf” and page stacks).
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WIPEOUT looks longer than the other topple verbs, which can make you second-guess. It still sits squarely in Topple.
How hard is NYT Connections #861?
Players who nail the book group early usually escape with one or zero mistakes. Those who chase the candy twist too soon often burn guesses. Overall: medium difficulty, with a Purple flourish that rewards lateral thinking.
One-minute refresher on scoring your guesses
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Four correct words = one cleared group.
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Mistakes tend to cluster when groups share tones (literal vs. idiomatic). If you hit two errors in a row, shuffle and re-read the list out loud; it breaks pattern lock and reveals the outliers.
TL;DR: For October 19 (Game #861), think Topple, Parts of a Book, “___ out” blowups, and Candy bars + one letter. If you were stuck on the last quartet, the letter-add trick was the missing key. Happy connecting!
