Play today's Connections board
These are the 16 words in the order NYT shows them. Tap four words you think belong together and press Submit. You get four mistakes, and we'll tell you when you are one word away. Nothing is saved, so you can practise without touching your real streak.
NYT Connections hints today: #1230
Yellow is usually the easiest group and purple the trickiest. Start with one colour and see if the rest falls into place.
Hints used: 0
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Yellow group hintGentle hint
Think of someone who says what they mean without sugarcoating it.
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Green group hintGentle hint
Software add-ons and pieces you might download for your laptop.
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Blue group hintHelpful hint
Physics class ingredients for how quickly work gets done.
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Purple group hintHelpful hint
Each one pairs with a word for a faucet.
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Where's the trap?Strong hint
The communication word in the last group tempts you to join the computer add-ons, and EXTENSION also sounds like phone talk, which muddies both groups.
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Connections group names todayStrong hint
- FORTHRIGHT
- THINGS YOU INSTALL ON A COMPUTER
- QUANTITIES IN A FORMULA FOR POWER
- ___ TAP
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Difficulty today: Medium. The tech and physics groups are clear once you spot them, but the fill-in-the-blank group hides among words that look like they belong elsewhere.
Connections answers today: #1230
Spoiler zone. Below are all four groups for October 23, 2026, with why each word fits.
Reveal one group at a time
Each colour opens in three steps: one word from the group, then the group name, then all four words. Stop as soon as you can finish it yourself.
Show one word
DIRECT is in the yellow group. Look for three more words that share something with it.
Show the group name
The group is FORTHRIGHT.
Show all four words
DIRECT, FRANK, OPEN, VOCAL
Show one word
DRIVER is in the green group. Look for three more words that share something with it.
Show the group name
The group is THINGS YOU INSTALL ON A COMPUTER.
Show all four words
DRIVER, EXTENSION, PLUGIN, UPDATE
Show one word
DISTANCE is in the blue group. Look for three more words that share something with it.
Show the group name
The group is QUANTITIES IN A FORMULA FOR POWER.
Show all four words
DISTANCE, FORCE, POWER, TIME
Show one word
DOUBLE is in the purple group. Look for three more words that share something with it.
Show the group name
The group is ___ TAP.
Show all four words
DOUBLE, LOVE, PHONE, SPINAL
All four groups at once
Show all four groups
- DIRECT: Goes straight to the point without hedging.
- FRANK: Honest and plain-spoken.
- OPEN: Willing to share thoughts without hiding anything.
- VOCAL: Readily speaks up about opinions.
- DRIVER: Software that lets hardware talk to your system.
- EXTENSION: A browser add-on that adds features.
- PLUGIN: A software add-on for an app or site.
- UPDATE: A patch or new version you install.
- DISTANCE: How far the push moves something.
- FORCE: The push or pull applied.
- POWER: The result: work done per second.
- TIME: How long the work takes.
Purple group explained
- DOUBLE: A double tap is two quick touches on a screen.
- LOVE: A love tap is a gentle playful pat.
- PHONE: A phone tap is secret listening on a call.
- SPINAL: A spinal tap is a medical fluid sampling test.
Recent Connections puzzles
| Date | Puzzle | Purple group |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 22 | #1229 | STARTS OF BEDDING |
| Oct 21 | #1228 | DOUBLE MISNOMERS (NEITHER WORD IS AN ACCURATE DESCRIPTION) |
| Oct 20 | #1227 | HOMOPHONES OF DISNEY CHARACTERS |
| Oct 19 | #1226 | ENDING IN BIRDS |
| Oct 18 | #1225 | STARTING WITH THINGS THAT CLOUD THE AIR |
| Oct 17 | #1224 | LA ___ |
| Oct 16 | #1223 | STARTING WITH WORDS FOR "STYLISH" |
Yesterday's Connections answer
The trickiest group in #1229 was STARTS OF BEDDING.
How to play Connections
Connections shows you 16 words. Your job is to sort them into four groups of four that share something in common. You can make four mistakes before the game ends.
- Scan all 16 words. Look for obvious links first, but expect some words to fit more than one group.
- Pick four and submit. Select four words you think belong together and press Submit.
- Watch for "one away". If three of your four are right, the game tells you you are one away.
- Solve all four groups. Each solved group is revealed with its colour and category name.
What the colours mean
- Yellow: Usually the most straightforward group.
- Green: A little harder, often a familiar category.
- Blue: Trickier, sometimes needs specific knowledge.
- Purple: The hardest. Often wordplay, hidden words or "___ blank" phrases.
Connections tips that actually help
- Find the red herrings first. If five or six words seem to fit one group, the extra ones belong somewhere else.
- Solve the group you are surest of before guessing anything risky. Each solved group removes four words of noise.
- For purple, look at the words as strings of letters: hidden words, words that follow or precede a common word, or anagrams.
- Say the words out loud. Homophones and sound-alikes are a favourite trick.
Other puzzles today
Connections questions
What are today's Connections answers?
Today's NYT Connections is #1230. The answers are in the "Connections answers today" section above. Tap to reveal all four groups.
Where can I get connection hints without spoilers?
Right here. The NYT Connections hints above give one clue per colour group, labelled from gentle to strong, so you can take a single connection hint and keep solving on your own.
What do the Connections colours mean?
Yellow is usually the easiest group, then green and blue. Purple is the trickiest and often involves wordplay.
How many mistakes can you make in Connections?
You can make four mistakes before the game ends.
When does a new Connections puzzle come out?
A new puzzle is released every day at midnight in your local time zone.
Is NYT Connections free?
Yes. Connections is free to play on the New York Times website and app.
What does "one away" mean in Connections?
Three of the four words you picked belong together, but the fourth does not.
Can a word belong to more than one group?
Each word belongs to exactly one group, but many puzzles include words that look like they fit two. That overlap is the challenge.