Yesterday's Connections Answer: #1229, Thursday, October 22, 2026
Full solution for yesterday's NYT Connections, with hints for each group, a difficulty score and a short explanation of how the puzzle played. Spoiler warning: the full answer appears in the FAQ and breakdown sections further down.
Updated October 23, 2026 · By Casey Marlowe
Today's 16 words (#1230), shuffled
Yesterday's Connections Hints, One Group at a Time
Want to re-solve yesterday's puzzle first? Open one step at a time: a clue, then the category, then the words.
Yesterday's Connections Difficulty: 3.3/5 (Medium-Hard)
Our editorial rating for #1229. It is not official NYT data.
Why this score. Almost every word has a second meaning. MOBILE reads as a phone, GUARD and SAFETY read as protection, HANDLE and GRIP read as verbs, and GUARD also names part of a sword next to HILT, so even the easier groups blur.
Purple drives the score. BLANK, COMFORT, PILL and SHE are only the first letters of blanket, comforter, pillow and sheet, so nothing on the board looks like bedding until you add the endings yourself. Blue and Green also lean on specific knowledge (football positions, sculpture types).
Yesterday's Connections Explained: Why Each Group Works
What connects each set, and what made it easy or tricky.
Yellow group: Parts To Be Grasped · 2.2/5
GRIP, HANDLE, HILT and KNOB are all parts of an object that you hold or turn.
HANDLE and GRIP also work as verbs, and HILT is the least common word of the four, so the group needs a moment to click.
Green group: Kinds Of Sculptures · 3.0/5
BUST, MOBILE, RELIEF and STATUE are all types of sculpture.
MOBILE looks like a phone and RELIEF looks like a feeling, so only STATUE and BUST stand out at first.
Blue group: American Football Positions · 3.4/5
END, GUARD, SAFETY and TACKLE are all positions on an American football team.
Each word has a broader everyday meaning, and GUARD also belongs to a sword next to HILT, which makes this a classic overlap trap.
Purple group: Starts Of Bedding · 4.6/5
Each word is the beginning of a bedding item: BLANK → blanket, COMFORT → comforter, PILL → pillow, SHE → sheet.
This was the hardest group by a wide margin. SHE in particular looks like a pronoun, and nothing hints at missing letters until the other three groups are solved.
How To Solve Yesterday's Connections, Step by Step
A solving path that would have worked for #1229.
Want more patterns like these? See our Connections strategy guide.
Yesterday's Connections Answer: Quick Questions
Quick answers about yesterday's puzzle.
What was yesterday's Connections answer?
Connections #1229 (Thursday, October 22, 2026): Yellow Parts To Be Grasped (Grip, Handle, Hilt, Knob); Green Kinds Of Sculptures (Bust, Mobile, Relief, Statue); Blue American Football Positions (End, Guard, Safety, Tackle); Purple Starts Of Bedding (Blank, Comfort, Pill, She).
How hard was yesterday's Connections?
We rated it Medium-Hard, 3.3 out of 5. Yellow was easiest at 2.2 and Purple hardest at 4.6. These are our own editorial scores.
What was the purple group yesterday?
Purple was "Starts Of Bedding": BLANK (blanket), COMFORT (comforter), PILL (pillow) and SHE (sheet).
Where can I find older Connections answers?
Our full archive lists past puzzles, and the homepage shows the last 10 days.