Today's sixteen words

NYT Connections game 1219 for Monday, October 12 presents sixteen words to sort into four groups.The words are calamari, mandarin, state, abbreviation, nickname, handle, shape, weather, condition, contraction, situation, bear, alkylamide, stand, elision and melamine.

Yellow group: where we're at

The yellow group, rated easy, asks where we are. The four words that fit are condition, shape, situation and state. All can follow the phrase how are you.

Green group: put up or shut up

The green group, rated medium, asks what you can do with something difficult. The four words are bear, handle, stand and weather. All mean to tolerate or endure.

Blue group: brief words

The blue group, rated hard, covers word shortenings often.The four words are abbreviation, contraction, elision and nickname.

“omission of one or more sounds, vowels, consonants, or whole syllables from a word or phrase to make speech faster and easier”

Purple group: postal abbreviations

The purple group, rated very difficult, contains words made using U.S. postal abbreviations. The four words are alkylamide, calamari, mandarin and melamine. Each word is formed from state postal codes.

Puzzle difficulty assessment

The puzzle was rated hard overall. The purple group posed the greatest challenge, particularly for those outside the United States unfamiliar with postal abbreviations and their letter combinations.

Yesterday's puzzle answers

Sunday, October 11, game 1218 featured four groups: put to use with apply, harness, utilize and wield; monthly bills with cable, electricity, internet and phone; things in a glove compartment with gloves, ice scraper, map…