Ready for today’s Connections? Puzzle #843 is live for Wednesday, October 1. If you want to solve it first, play on the New York Times Games site at nytimes.com/games/connections. Spoilers begin below.

Editor difficulty rating: 3.5/5.

Today’s 16 words (no spoilers)

  • CANYON
  • HALLWAY
  • RAPIDS
  • FLAME
  • CURRENT
  • JURY
  • SLAM
  • DOOR
  • TUNNEL
  • CATARACT
  • BOOBY
  • SKEWER
  • KNOCK
  • FIRST
  • ZOOM CALL
  • WHIRLPOOL

Group hints (gentle nudges, still spoiler‑light)

  • Yellow: Think white water and swift flow.
  • Green: Ways to put someone down.
  • Blue: Places where sound bounces back.
  • Purple: Words that precede “prize.”

One tile per group (mild spoilers)

  • Yellow: CURRENT
  • Green: SLAM
  • Blue: HALLWAY
  • Purple: FIRST

Category names (spoilers)

  • Yellow: Fast‑moving water
  • Green: Criticize
  • Blue: Echoey places
  • Purple: ____ prize

Today’s answers (full spoilers)

Group Category Words
Yellow Fast‑moving water CATARACT, CURRENT, RAPIDS, WHIRLPOOL
Green Criticize FLAME, KNOCK, SKEWER, SLAM
Blue Echoey places CANYON, HALLWAY, TUNNEL, ZOOM CALL
Purple ____ prize BOOBY, DOOR, FIRST, JURY

Why these groups work

Fast‑moving water: A current is flowing water; rapids mark turbulent, accelerated flow; a whirlpool forms when flows meet obstacles or collide; and a cataract is a large, powerful waterfall.

Criticize: To flame someone is to attack them, often online. Knock means to disparage. To skewer is to sharply lampoon. And slam is a blunt, emphatic put‑down.

Echoey places: In a canyon, hallway, or tunnel, sound reflects off hard surfaces, creating echoes and reverb. A Zoom call can echo when a participant’s speakers feed back into a microphone or when multiple devices are in the same room.

____ prize: Booby prize is a jokey award for last place. Door prize is raffled to attendees. First prize denotes the top standard award. A jury prize is determined by a judging panel at certain festivals.

Notable misdirections

  • CATARACT: Not only an eye condition—also a term for a big waterfall.
  • BOOBY: Could tempt “trap” or the seabird; here it belongs with “prize.”
  • Echoes: CANYON and TUNNEL are obvious; HALLWAY and ZOOM CALL do the same acoustic trick in everyday life.

If you haven’t played yet, you can still take a run at it on the Games site and share your grid when you’re done. A fresh puzzle arrives daily at midnight in your time zone.