NYT Connections Game #1228 for October 21 serves up a board where playground games sit beside famous art—and a few names that don’t quite mean what they seem to.
The early groups offer a foothold, but the trickier names can tug you toward food, music and animals before the real connections click.
SPOILER WARNING: Hints and answers for today’s Connections follow.
Today’s NYT Connections words
Here are the 16 words on today’s board:
- ENGLISH HORN | LEAPFROG | ALPHA DOG | SWEETBREAD
- HOT POTATO | MANTIS SHRIMP | SUNFLOWERS | BIG CHEESE
- AMERICAN GOTHIC | GRAPE-NUTS | CAMPBELL’S SOUP CAN | DUCK DUCK GOOSE
- TOP BANANA | THE SCREAM | MUSICAL CHAIRS | HEAVYWEIGHT
Today’s NYT Connections hints
Need a nudge without the full reveal? Try these hints:
- 🟡 Yellow: Think of activities you might play with a group of children.
- 🟢 Green: These are four informal ways to describe someone who holds sway.
- 🔵 Blue: Look for four well-known works of art.
- 🟣 Purple: Each name contains two elements that don’t accurately describe the thing it names.
Today’s NYT Connections group titles
- 🟡 Yellow: CLASSIC CHILDREN’S GAMES
- 🟢 Green: IMPORTANT PERSON
- 🔵 Blue: FAMOUS PAINTINGS
- 🟣 Purple: DOUBLE MISNOMERS (NEITHER WORD IS AN ACCURATE DESCRIPTION)
What are today’s NYT Connections answers?
Here are all four groups and their members:
| Colour | Group | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 🟡 Yellow | CLASSIC CHILDREN’S GAMES | DUCK DUCK GOOSE, HOT POTATO, LEAPFROG, MUSICAL CHAIRS |
| 🟢 Green | IMPORTANT PERSON | ALPHA DOG, BIG CHEESE, HEAVYWEIGHT, TOP BANANA |
| 🔵 Blue | FAMOUS PAINTINGS | AMERICAN GOTHIC, CAMPBELL’S SOUP CAN, SUNFLOWERS, THE SCREAM |
| 🟣 Purple | DOUBLE MISNOMERS (NEITHER WORD IS AN ACCURATE DESCRIPTION) | ENGLISH HORN, GRAPE-NUTS, MANTIS SHRIMP, SWEETBREAD |
Today’s Connections — expert analysis
The natural entry point is Yellow: DUCK DUCK GOOSE, HOT POTATO, LEAPFROG and MUSICAL CHAIRS make a clean set of familiar children’s games. Green is also approachable once you spot that ALPHA DOG, BIG CHEESE, HEAVYWEIGHT and TOP BANANA all describe an important person.
Purple is the hardest group because its connection depends on what the names get wrong, rather than what the things are. ENGLISH HORN, GRAPE-NUTS, MANTIS SHRIMP and SWEETBREAD all contain two misleading elements. The food-sounding GRAPE-NUTS and SWEETBREAD can pull you toward a food set, while ENGLISH HORN may suggest music—especially with MUSICAL CHAIRS elsewhere on the board.
If you’re stuck, spend your first safe guess on the children’s games, then set those four aside. That helps keep the misleading food and music associations from bleeding into the remaining groups; after that, the art titles give you another strong anchor.
Difficulty: 3.5/5 — the clear games and art sets are balanced by a purple group built on misleading names.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections answers (Game #1227)
Yesterday’s puzzle, Game #1227, grouped words around finishing, a lackey, mustaches and homophones of Disney characters.
- 🟡 Yellow (FINISH): CLOSE, END, STOP, WRAP
- 🟢 Green (LACKEY): MINION, POODLE, PUPPET, STOOGE
- 🔵 Blue (MUSTACHES): CHEVRON, HORSESHOE, PENCIL, WALRUS
- 🟣 Purple (HOMOPHONES OF DISNEY CHARACTERS): ARIAL, BELL, DOCK, MINI
What is NYT Connections?
Connections is a daily word puzzle from The New York Times. You sort 16 words into four groups of four, with each group linked by a shared theme.
The categories range from straightforward to tricky, and the words are chosen to invite plausible wrong groupings. Finding the intended connection is the whole game.
How to play NYT Connections
- Choose four words you think share a connection, then submit your group.
- Correct groups are assigned a colour; keep solving until all four groups are found.
- You can make up to four mistakes, so look for overlaps and save guesses when a group feels uncertain.
Past week’s NYT Connections answers
Missed a day? Full solutions from earlier this week, newest first.
Game #1226 — October 19
- 🟡 SEETHE: BOIL, FUME, RAVE, STEAM
- 🟢 ALL TALK: BLATHER, GAS, HOT AIR, WIND
- 🔵 “MC” THINGS AT MCDONALD’S: FLURRY, MUFFIN, NUGGETS, RIB
- 🟣 ENDING IN BIRDS: ALIBIS, BALLOON, ESCROW, MOHAWK
Game #1225 — October 18
- 🟡 PLACES TO STORE CLOTHES: BUREAU, CHEST, TRUNK, WARDROBE
- 🟢 THINGS THAT COME IN STICKS: BUTTER, DEODORANT, DYNAMITE, INCENSE
- 🔵 FAMOUS PERFUMES: ANGEL, COCO, OBSESSION, OPIUM
- 🟣 STARTING WITH THINGS THAT CLOUD THE AIR: FOGERTY, HAZEL, MISTER, VAPORETTO
Game #1224 — October 17
- 🟡 DIGITAL NOTIFICATIONS: ALERT, CHIME, DING, PING
- 🟢 PHOTO: PRINT, SHOT, SNAP, STILL
- 🔵 KINDS OF CRABS: FIDDLER, HERMIT, KING, SNOW
- 🟣 LA ___: BOHÈME, BREA, PAZ, SCALA
Game #1223 — October 16
- 🟡 SURFACE IMPERFECTIONS: CHIP, MARK, NICK, SCRATCH
- 🟢 LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES: CHAD, HUNGARY, LAOS, PARAGUAY
- 🔵 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES MINUS A LETTER: BULGARI, CYRUS, HUNGRY, SPAN
- 🟣 STARTING WITH WORDS FOR “STYLISH”: CHICKEN, COOLIDGE, HIPPO, SMARTIES
Game #1222 — October 15
- 🟡 WAYS TO PRESERVE FOOD: CURE, DRY, PICKLE, SMOKE
- 🟢 THINGS YOU CAN SCORE IN SPORTS: BASKET, GOAL, RUN, TOUCHDOWN
- 🔵 LOWEST PART: BASE, BOTTOM, FOOT, FOUNDATION
- 🟣 LOW LANDFORMS WITH A LETTER CHANGED: CANNON, FORGE, RACINE, VOLLEY
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
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.
