Connections Hint Today: October 23, 2026
Stuck on today's NYT Connections? Here are spoiler-free hints for puzzle #1230 (Friday, October 23, 2026). Open one clue at a time (a hint, then the category, then the words) or paste your own 16 words to see which group each belongs to. Today's puzzle is rated Medium+ (3.3/5).
Updated October 23, 2026 · By Casey Marlowe
Puzzle #1230 · 4 groups to find
Today's Connections Full Word List
All 16 words in today's puzzle, in mixed order. Try sorting them into four groups of four before you open any hints.
Today's Connections Hints
Hints for puzzle #1230. Each color group unlocks in three steps: a clue, then the category name, then the four words.
Why this score? (contains spoilers)
Where most people slip up: DRIVER could be a golf club or someone behind the wheel, and POWER sounds like a computer word, but each belongs to a different group than you might expect, and OPEN can drift toward a door or a shop sign.
Purple is the key: add the word TAP after DOUBLE, LOVE, PHONE and SPINAL. Once those four are out of the way, Yellow and Green fall quickly.
Today's Connections Trick Words
The NYT plants decoys to pull you into a wrong group. Tap a card to reveal the word and why it is a trap.
Try It Yourself
Select four words you think belong together and submit. Four wrong guesses end the round, and the hints are always here if you need them.
Game Basics
- 16 words arranged in a 4×4 grid
- Form 4 groups of 4 related words
- Maximum 4 incorrect guesses allowed
- New puzzle released daily at midnight
Already Playing on NYT? Paste Your Words
Paste today's 16 words (any order, comma or line separated) and we'll match them to the right groups, with no spoilers unless you ask.
Yesterday's Connections Answer
Yellow is parts to be grasped: GRIP, HANDLE, HILT, and KNOB. Green is kinds of sculptures: BUST, MOBILE, RELIEF, and STATUE.
Blue is American football positions: END, GUARD, SAFETY, and TACKLE. Purple is starts of bedding: BLANK, COMFORT, PILL, and SHE.
Yesterday's Connections Answer: full hints, solution and difficulty breakdown →
Three Ways to Get Unstuck
Take only as much help as you need. Each step reveals a little more than the last.
Start with the clue
Each color card opens with a gentle nudge toward the theme, enough to point you in the right direction without naming it.
Reveal the category
Still unsure? Reveal the category name itself. The four words stay hidden until you ask for those too.
Reveal the words, or the whole grid
Open a single group's words, or use the "Reveal every answer on this page" button if you just want the complete answer.
The Connections Colors, Explained
Every Connections puzzle has four groups, color-coded by difficulty. Solving from yellow up to purple is usually the safest approach.
Yellow: Easiest
A clear, plainly stated theme. Usually the fastest group to lock in.
Green: Easy
Still fairly direct, but often hides one decoy word.
Blue: Hard
Leans on specific knowledge or a less obvious shared trait.
Purple: Trickiest
Almost always wordplay: hidden prefixes, homophones, or puns.
Not sure which color to lock in first?
How to Solve Connections
Practical tips for sorting the board and spending your four mistakes wisely.
- Don't submit your first idea immediately. Scan the rest of the board first. Connections almost always plants a word that fits your group better than one you've already chosen.
- Words with more than one meaning are usually the trap. If a word could plausibly sit in two categories, it's probably there on purpose.
- Save purple for last. It's typically wordplay rather than a straightforward theme, and the other three groups often make it obvious by elimination.
- If two groups seem to want the same word, solve the other two groups first. Whatever's left over usually settles the dispute.
- Use your four mistakes wisely. A near-miss ("one away") is useful information. It tells you exactly one word in your guess belongs somewhere else.
- Green and blue can lean on trivia, not just synonyms. These groups sometimes pull from specific knowledge (brand names, abbreviations, niche facts) rather than words that simply mean the same thing.
Want to go deeper on how to approach the board?
🧩 Connections Hint Learning Center: Master the Game
Tips, strategy, and difficulty breakdowns to help you get better at Connections every day.
📋 The Board
You get 16 words arranged in a 4×4 grid, and four quiet groups of four are hiding somewhere inside them.
🎯 The Goal
Untangle all four groups while keeping your mistakes as low as you can.
🖱️ Making A Guess
Pick four words that feel connected and submit them. Miss four times and the round is over.
Before You Start Guessing
Take in all 16 words before locking anything in. The first thing that looks obvious can turn out to be a trap.
That's usually the yellow category. It tends to reveal itself quickest.
Blue and purple get much easier once the other two groups are out of the way.
🎯 Take The Easy Win First
Lock in the group that's staring you in the face. These plain categories ("Types of Fruit," "Ocean Animals") are what usually make up yellow.
🛡️ Watch For Traps
Some words look like they belong together but don't. The puzzle is built to nudge you toward a wrong combination on purpose.
🧠 Bend Your Thinking
Purple is rarely literal. Expect puns, wordplay, or a word being used in a sense you didn't consider.
Strategies For Tougher Days
Down to the last two groups? Try combinations one at a time. With only 8 words left, the options run out fast.
A fresh layout can surface a connection your eyes glossed over. Shuffle as many times as you need.
Remember which pairings you've already ruled out so you're not testing the same wrong guess twice.
❌ Guessing Too Fast
A lot of players lock in their first idea before checking whether the rest of the board fits better.
❌ Trusting The Obvious Group
A combination that seems too neat is often exactly the red herring the puzzle wants you to fall for.
❌ Skipping Past Layout Clues
Where words land after a shuffle can quietly hint at connections most players never notice.
❌ Missing The Second Meaning
Plenty of words carry more than one definition, and only one of them fits the category you're chasing.
⚠️ Real Red Herrings From Past Boards
BANK, INTEREST, COMPOUND, PRINCIPAL: reads like banking terms, but it could just as easily be chemistry vocabulary in disguise.
SPRING, FALL, SUMMER, WINTER: looks like plain seasons, yet any one of these words might belong to a completely different group.
🟡 Yellow: Easiest
The theme is stated almost plainly, so most solvers spot it right away.
🟢 Green: Easy
Still fairly direct, but takes a bit more thought. The category is a little less obvious or hides a decoy word.
🔵 Blue: Hard
Not immediately obvious. Often needs a sideways angle or a bit of niche knowledge to crack.
🟣 Purple: Hardest
The trickiest group by design. Expect puns, wordplay, or a reference that takes a moment to click.
⚡ A Few Tips For Today's Board
Run through a few common category types in your head before you dive in
Give the board a couple of minutes before your first guess
Matching prefixes, suffixes, or even word length can point to a hidden group
A short break and fresh eyes solve more puzzles than pure persistence does
👥 Talk It Through
A tough board often cracks faster when you bounce ideas off a friend or an online community.
📈 Notice Your Patterns
Keep an eye on the category types that trip you up most. It's the fastest way to get better.
🏆 Enjoy The Clean Run
A mistake-free solve doesn't happen every day, so give yourself credit when it does.
Try clearing this week's puzzles in three guesses or fewer. The archive below is there for practice.
The more boards you work through, the faster the patterns start to jump out.
Connections Statistics: 30-Day Average Difficulty
Across the last 30 puzzles, the average sat close to 2.6/5. Oct 22 and Oct 23 were the toughest days at 3.3, while Oct 10, Oct 17 and Oct 21 were the easiest at 2.0. Scores are our own editorial difficulty ratings, not official NYT data.
Mean score per puzzle, last 30 days
Each point represents one puzzle, and today is highlighted. The vertical scale runs from 1 to 5.
Fail rate per puzzle, last 30 days (editorial estimate)
An estimated share of solvers who would use all four mistakes without solving, based on each puzzle's difficulty score. This is not measured NYT player data.
Past Connections Answers
The last 10 puzzles, newest first. Tap a day to see its full solved grid.
Looking for older puzzles? Search the full Past Connections archive →
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers about today's puzzle and how Connections works.
What is today's Connections answer?
What is NYT Connections?
Connections is a daily word-grouping puzzle from The New York Times. You get 16 words and sort them into four hidden groups of four, with four mistakes allowed. Yellow is the most straightforward group and purple is the trickiest.
When does a new Connections puzzle come out?
A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight in your local time zone. This page is updated for each new puzzle.
Is using a hint considered cheating?
Not really. A hint still leaves the solving to you. That is why every group here opens in three steps instead of giving the answer straight away.
Can you help with the Purple category?
Yes. Purple almost always hides wordplay, so it gets the same three-step treatment: a clue, then the category name, then the words.
How do I use this page to get better, not just find today's answer?
Work through the board on your own first, and pull in a clue only when you're stuck. Here's the shape of the game and how our hints line up with it:
The Basics
- 16 words show up in a 4×4 layout
- You're grouping them into four sets of exactly four
- Every group shares one underlying theme
- Our hint cards break that theme down step by step
What You're Working Toward
- Spot how words relate to each other
- Recognize patterns NYT reuses often
- Work your way from yellow up to purple
- Build a sharper eye for wordplay over time
The Color System
- Yellow: usually the most direct theme
- Green: a step trickier, sometimes trivia-based
- Blue: leans on specific knowledge or a twist
- Purple: almost always wordplay or a hidden pun
Ground Rules
- Pick four words you think belong together
- Submit to see if the group is right
- You get four wrong guesses before the round ends
- A fresh puzzle lands here every day at midnight
Where do I play today's puzzle?
The real game lives on the NYT Games site and app. This page is a companion, so keep it open next to your real game for hints. You can also use the board under "Try It Yourself" above to practice with today's exact groups.
What does this page offer that just guessing on my own doesn't?
Instead of handing you the full answer right away, everything here unlocks in stages (a clue, then the category, then the words) alongside a difficulty score for each color, a 10-puzzle archive, and a learning center covering strategy and common mistakes. If you're already playing on the NYT app, you can paste your own 16 words into the tool above and get matched straight to the right hint.
How often should I lean on the hints if I want to improve?
Give the puzzle a real, unaided attempt first. Only open a clue once you're genuinely stuck, and try to stop at the clue level before jumping straight to the full word reveal. Coming back later to re-solve older puzzles from the archive, without looking, is one of the better ways to build pattern recognition over time.
Is this site mobile-friendly?
Yes. The hint cards, practice board and word tool all work in a phone browser.
Is this official NYT data?
No. This is an independent guide. Connections is a trademark of The New York Times Company, and we are not affiliated with or endorsed by it.