Today's board is a tale of two halves. The easy groups practically introduce themselves, while the purple group hides behind one of the sneakiest little words in the game. Start with what feels obvious and save your brainpower for the wordplay at the end.
Today's NYT Connections puzzle details
- Date
- October 9, 2026
- Puzzle
- #1216
- Words
- 16
- Groups
- 4
- Mistakes allowed
- 4
- Difficulty
- Medium
Spoiler warning: hints below are spoiler-safe. The answer is hidden at the bottom of this page behind a clear reveal button. Scroll carefully.
Play Today's Connection
Try today's puzzle right here, then scroll down for hints if you get stuck.
NYT Connections · Puzzle #1216 · October 9, 2026
Today's NYT Connections hints
Climb the ladder from the gentlest nudge to the strongest hint. No peeking at the next clue until you've given the current one a real try.
Yellow groupEasiest
Think about how sports commentators describe a total demolition. Four words for winning by a mile, the kind of game that is over by halftime.
Green groupStraightforward
Pick up the remote. Four buttons you press without looking: switching what you watch, choosing the source, turning it on, and making it louder.
Blue groupTricky
Picture the postgame show. Four things the hosts run through after the final whistle: the best plays, a summary of the night, the numbers from other games, and the data behind them.
Purple groupTrickiest
Put the same short word in front of all four. It cools your house, it rocks an imaginary stage, it is a kiss blown across the room, and it frames what someone supposedly said.
Strong nudgeOne word each
Anchor each group with one word you can trust: ROUT for yellow, POWER for green, HIGHLIGHTS for blue, and GUITAR for purple. Build outward from there and the groups will click into place.
Today's NYT Connections answers
Open only the groups you need. Each reveal stays hidden until you tap it.
Reveal the Yellow group
DECISIVE VICTORYBLOWOUT, ROMP, ROUT, SWEEP
Reveal the Green group
CONTROLLED BY A TV REMOTECHANNEL, INPUT, POWER, VOLUME
Reveal the Blue group
FEATURES OF A SPORTS SHOWHIGHLIGHTS, RECAP, SCORES, STATS
Reveal the Purple group
AIR ___CONDITIONER, GUITAR, KISS, QUOTES
Reveal the full solved board
What does today's NYT Connections answer mean?
Reveal the meanings (contains spoilers)
Yellow collects four words for a blowout win: BLOWOUT, ROMP, ROUT, and SWEEP all describe a decisive victory. Green is your TV remote: CHANNEL, INPUT, POWER, and VOLUME are all controlled by it. Blue recaps the sports show: HIGHLIGHTS, RECAP, SCORES, and STATS are its standard features. Purple is the wordplay group: put AIR in front and you get air conditioner, air guitar, air kiss, and air quotes.
How hard is today's NYT Connections?
Difficulty: Medium
The trap today sits in the salon: two of the sixteen words look like they belong together getting your hair done, but they split across different groups, so do not let that red herring eat your mistakes. And do not overthink the purple group's shortest word: it is not about romance here, it is the kind you blow across a room. Once the purple click happens, the whole board falls into place.
What were the recent NYT Connections answers?
Our answer archive is building. Recent answers will appear here daily.
How do you play NYT Connections?
- You get a board of 16 words. Your job is to sort them into four secret groups of four, and every word belongs to exactly one group.
- Each group shares something in common, like words that mean the same thing, parts of a familiar category, or names that each need one extra word in front.
- Tap four words you think belong together, then hit Submit. If you are right, the group locks in and its color is revealed.
- You get four mistakes total. Groups are color coded by difficulty, from yellow (the easiest) through green and blue to purple (the trickiest).
- Clear all four groups before your mistakes run out and you win. Run out of mistakes and the board reveals the answers, so you can try again tomorrow.
What are the best NYT Connections strategies?
- Start with the gimme: scan for the group that jumps out at you, usually four words with an obvious link like synonyms or measurements. Locking it in first clears clutter and leaves fewer words to confuse you.
- Respect the red herrings: some words are traps that could fit two groups, like a word that works as both a verb and a noun. If a group feels almost right, double check each word against the others before you submit.
- Shuffle for a fresh look: the board order can trick your brain into seeing fake patterns. Hit shuffle to scramble the tiles and break the illusion, then look again with fresh eyes.
- Use the one away nudge: when the game tells you that you are one away, you have three of the four right. Swap out one word at a time instead of starting over, and you will usually land it.
- Save the wordplay for last: the purple group is almost always a pun or a fragment, like the starts of longer puzzle names. Tackle it once the other groups have narrowed the board.
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is the daily word sorting game from NYT Games, created by editor Wyna Liu and launched in 2023. It gives you sixteen words on a 4x4 board and asks you to find four hidden groups of four, with four mistakes allowed.
The categories range from the everyday, like synonyms or measurements, to trivia and wordplay, like band names or puzzle fragments. A new puzzle drops every day at midnight, so there is always a fresh board waiting for you.
More daily puzzles
Today's WordleThe daily five-letter word puzzleGet hints →
NYT StrandsFind the theme words and the spangramGet hints →
Spelling BeeBuild words from 7 letters around the center letterGet hints →
NYT PipsA domino-style logic puzzleGet hints →
QuordleSolve 4 words with one set of shared guessesGet hints →
OctordleSolve 8 words with one set of shared guessesGet hints →
Strategy guides
Frequently asked questions
What is NYT Connections?
It is the daily word game from NYT Games. You get 16 words on a board and must sort them into four groups of four, each sharing a hidden link. The groups are ranked from yellow (easiest) to purple (trickiest), and you get four mistakes before the game ends.
How do the color groups work?
Yellow is the most straightforward group, then green, then blue. Purple is the trickiest and usually involves wordplay. You get four mistakes before the game ends, and each color is revealed only when you solve that group.
What time does Connections reset?
A new puzzle drops at midnight in your local time zone, every single day. Everyone gets the same board, which is why you can compare results with friends.
Where can I play NYT Connections?
Through NYT Games, on their website and in the app, alongside their other daily puzzles. SolveDaily is not affiliated with the New York Times; we publish our own independent hints and answers.
Why is the purple group always the hardest?
Because it is almost always wordplay. Yellow through blue are usually about meaning or trivia, but purple asks you to read the words differently: as fragments, fill in the blanks, or puns. If you are stuck on the last four words, try reading them as parts of longer words instead of standalone terms.