NYT Connections game #1223 for October 16 puts a near-lookalike pair on the board and dares you to keep them apart. HUNGARY and HUNGRY are both answers, but they belong in different groups.
There’s a straightforward way in, then a trickier final connection that rewards a little wordplay. Here are the hints and answers if you need them.
SPOILER WARNING: Hints and answers for today’s Connections follow.
Today’s NYT Connections words
Here are the 16 words on today’s board:
- HUNGARY | HUNGRY | HIPPO | CHICKEN
- CHIP | CHAD | COOLIDGE | CYRUS
- SPAN | MARK | LAOS | NICK
- PARAGUAY | SMARTIES | BULGARI | SCRATCH
Today’s NYT Connections hints
Try these spoiler-light clues before checking the answers:
- 🟡 Yellow: These words can describe small damage or blemishes on a surface.
- 🟢 Green: These four countries have no coastline.
- 🔵 Blue: Each word is a European country with one letter removed.
- 🟣 Purple: Each word starts with a term that can mean fashionable or well-dressed.
Today’s NYT Connections group titles
- 🟡 Yellow: SURFACE IMPERFECTIONS
- 🟢 Green: LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES
- 🔵 Blue: EUROPEAN COUNTRIES MINUS A LETTER
- 🟣 Purple: STARTING WITH WORDS FOR “STYLISH”
What are today’s NYT Connections answers?
The four groups, from easiest to hardest, are:
| Colour | Group | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 🟡 Yellow | SURFACE IMPERFECTIONS | CHIP, MARK, NICK, SCRATCH |
| 🟢 Green | LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES | CHAD, HUNGARY, LAOS, PARAGUAY |
| 🔵 Blue | EUROPEAN COUNTRIES MINUS A LETTER | BULGARI, CYRUS, HUNGRY, SPAN |
| 🟣 Purple | STARTING WITH WORDS FOR “STYLISH” | CHICKEN, COOLIDGE, HIPPO, SMARTIES |
Today’s Connections — expert analysis
Yellow is the natural entry point: CHIP, MARK, NICK and SCRATCH all work as words for surface damage. It’s a useful first safe guess if the board feels crowded. The next clean connection is the four landlocked countries, but HUNGARY is a tempting troublemaker: it looks almost like HUNGRY, yet the two belong to separate groups.
Blue takes a little more scrutiny because its words resemble country names with a letter missing: BULGARI, CYRUS, HUNGRY and SPAN. Purple is the hardest group, with CHICKEN, COOLIDGE, HIPPO and SMARTIES each beginning with a word for “stylish.” The mix of familiar-looking country names, a person’s name and everyday words makes it easy to chase surface similarities instead of the shared wordplay.
Difficulty: 4/5 — HUNGARY and HUNGRY are a sharp decoy, and the final group hinges on wordplay.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections answers (Game #1222)
Yesterday’s game moved from preserving food to a letter-change puzzle.
- 🟡 Yellow (WAYS TO PRESERVE FOOD): CURE, DRY, PICKLE, SMOKE
- 🟢 Green (THINGS YOU CAN SCORE IN SPORTS): BASKET, GOAL, RUN, TOUCHDOWN
- 🔵 Blue (LOWEST PART): BASE, BOTTOM, FOOT, FOUNDATION
- 🟣 Purple (LOW LANDFORMS WITH A LETTER CHANGED): CANNON, FORGE, RACINE, VOLLEY
What is NYT Connections?
Connections is a word-grouping puzzle from The New York Times. The aim is to sort 16 words into four groups of four, with each group sharing a connection.
The connections can hinge on meanings, wordplay or familiar phrases, so a word that seems to fit more than one group may be the board’s best decoy.
How to play NYT Connections
- Look for four words that share a connection and select them as a group.
- Repeat until you have found all four groups of four.
- Use the colour clues to gauge difficulty: yellow is easiest, followed by green, blue and purple.
- Watch for decoys: a word may seem to fit more than one possible connection.
Past week’s NYT Connections answers
Missed a day? Full solutions from earlier this week, newest first.
Game #1221 — October 14
- 🟡 HINT: FLICKER, SUGGESTION, TRACE, WHIFF
- 🟢 TENNIS SHOTS: SERVE, SLICE, SMASH, VOLLEY
- 🔵 SUPERHEROES, WITH “THE”: FLASH, HULK, PUNISHER, THING
- 🟣 STARTING WITH “FEE, FI, FO, FUM”: FEED, FIERY, FOMENT, FUMBLE
Game #1220 — October 13
- 🟡 DISCERNMENT: EYE, FLAIR, SENSE, TASTE
- 🟢 FASTEN: HITCH, LASH, TETHER, TIE
- 🔵 SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP PRIZES: BELT, CUP, JACKET, RING
- 🟣 LOOSE ___: CANNON, CHANGE, ENDS, LIPS
Game #1219 — October 12
- 🟡 STATUS: CONDITION, SHAPE, SITUATION, STATE
- 🟢 TOLERATE: BEAR, HANDLE, STAND, WEATHER
- 🔵 WORD SHORTENINGS, OFTEN: ABBREVIATION, CONTRACTION, ELISION, NICKNAME
- 🟣 WORDS MADE USING U.S. POSTAL ABBREVIATIONS: ALKYLAMIDE, CALAMARI, MANDARIN, MELAMINE
Game #1218 — October 11
- 🟡 PUT TO USE: APPLY, HARNESS, UTILIZE, WIELD
- 🟢 MONTHLY BILLS: CABLE, ELECTRICITY, INTERNET, PHONE
- 🔵 THINGS YOU MIGHT FIND IN A GLOVE COMPARTMENT: GLOVES, ICE SCRAPER, MAP, REGISTRATION
- 🟣 ENDING IN GAMBITS: EMPLOY, PATRICK, PERUSE, SYNTACTIC
Game #1217 — October 10
- 🟡 USEFUL WHEN WRITING A PAPER: DRAFT, NOTES, OUTLINE, THESIS
- 🟢 PRESUME: FIGURE, GATHER, IMAGINE, SUPPOSE
- 🔵 SOCIAL MEDIA SECTIONS: FEED, MESSAGES, NOTIFICATIONS, PROFILE
- 🟣 ___BOXING: BEAT, KICK, SHADOW, UN
Game #1216 — October 9
- 🟡 DECISIVE VICTORY: BLOWOUT, ROMP, ROUT, SWEEP
- 🟢 CONTROLLED BY A TV REMOTE: CHANNEL, INPUT, POWER, VOLUME
- 🔵 FEATURES OF A SPORTS SHOW: HIGHLIGHTS, RECAP, SCORES, STATS
- 🟣 AIR ___: CONDITIONER, GUITAR, KISS, QUOTES
More daily puzzle help from HashTechWave
- Today’s NYT Strands hints, spangram and answers
- Today’s NYT Spelling Bee answers and pangram
- Today’s Wordle hints, clues and answer
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What time does a new NYT Connections puzzle unlock?
A brand-new puzzle drops every single night at midnight local time across your specific region’s time zone on NYT Connection official site.
Why do some words seem to fit into two different groups?
The puzzle is specifically designed to include “decoys” or overlapping vocabulary. Always look for a backup configuration of words before locking in an early guess to protect your attempt counter.
Can I review answers to older puzzles?
Yes — we keep the past week of solutions right here on this page. Scroll up to the “Past week’s NYT Connections answers” section for every recent grid, newest first, plus a full breakdown of yesterday’s puzzle.
