The New York Times Connections
The New York Times Connections

NEW YORK — Sunday's edition of The New York Times' Connections puzzle looks straightforward at first, with categories drawn from everyday life, but one cleverly disguised word could send even experienced players down the wrong path.

Puzzle No. 1218, released for Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, asks players to sort 16 words into four hidden groups of four. Below are hints arranged from gentle to more revealing, strategy tips for avoiding today's main trap and, for those who need them, the full answers.

Spoiler warning: The answers to today's Connections puzzle appear later in this article. Read only as far as you need.

How Connections works

Connections presents players with a grid of 16 words. The goal is to find four groups of four words that share a common link. Players can make up to four mistakes before the game ends.

Each group is color-coded by difficulty. Yellow is generally the most straightforward, followed by green and blue, with purple usually the trickiest and often built on wordplay.

The Times launched Connections in June 2023, and it has become one of the most popular games in its lineup alongside Wordle and the crossword. Its appeal lies in red herrings, words that seem to fit more than one category but belong in only one.

A new puzzle is released at midnight local time.

Today's 16 words

Sunday's grid includes the following words:

PERUSE, CABLE, MAP, WIELD, SYNTACTIC, PHONE, GLOVES, HARNESS, EMPLOY, INTERNET, REGISTRATION, UTILIZE, PATRICK, ELECTRICITY, ICE SCRAPER, APPLY

Hints for Connections No. 1218

For players who want to keep solving on their own, here are hints for each group.

  • Yellow: Think of verbs that mean making something work for you.
  • Green: Think of household expenses that arrive every month, not counting rent.
  • Blue: Think of items tucked away in your car for paperwork or winter mornings.
  • Purple: Look at how each word ends. The final letters hide a word for a scheme or trick.

If you still need help, here is one word from each group:

  • Yellow: HARNESS
  • Green: ELECTRICITY
  • Blue: ICE SCRAPER
  • Purple: PATRICK

Watch out for the obvious synonym. Today's biggest red herring is EMPLOY. It is a natural fit with words meaning "to use," and many players will be tempted to group it with APPLY, HARNESS, UTILIZE and WIELD. But five words cannot share a group, and EMPLOY belongs somewhere else.

Look inside the words. When a grid includes an unusual entry such as SYNTACTIC or a proper name like PATRICK, the purple group often involves letters hidden inside or at the end of words. Try breaking the oddballs into pieces and see what smaller words appear.

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Start with the clearest groups. The monthly bills and glove compartment categories are fairly self-contained. Solving those first leaves fewer words to sort and makes the remaining groups easier to spot.

Be careful with overlaps. GLOVES and MAP might seem to fit other categories, and CABLE could suggest something you would find in a car, such as a jumper cable. Decide whether each word is something you pay for or something you store before locking in a group.

Use the shuffle button. Rearranging the grid can break up visual clusters that lead to false connections.

Final warning: The answers are below

If you want to keep trying, stop reading here.

Today's Connections answers

Here are the solutions for Connections No. 1218 for Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026:

  • Yellow — Put to use: APPLY, HARNESS, UTILIZE, WIELD
  • Green — Monthly bills: CABLE, ELECTRICITY, INTERNET, PHONE
  • Blue — Things you might find in a glove compartment: GLOVES, ICE SCRAPER, MAP, REGISTRATION
  • Purple — Ending in gambits: EMPLOY, PATRICK, PERUSE, SYNTACTIC

The yellow group gathers verbs meaning to make use of something. To APPLY, HARNESS, UTILIZE or WIELD something is to put it to work, whether it is a tool, a skill or a resource.

The green group lists common utility and service bills that many households pay each month: CABLE, ELECTRICITY, INTERNET and PHONE.

The blue group covers items often stored in a car's glove compartment. Drivers commonly keep their vehicle REGISTRATION there, along with GLOVES, a MAP and, in colder climates, an ICE SCRAPER.

The purple group rewards players who look at word endings. Each word finishes with a term for a clever maneuver or deception: EMPLOY ends in PLOY, PATRICK ends in TRICK, PERUSE ends in RUSE and SYNTACTIC ends in TACTIC. EMPLOY's double role as both a synonym for "use" and a hidden "ploy" makes it a classic Connections trap.

Yesterday's answers

For players catching up, here are the groups from Saturday, Oct. 10, puzzle No. 1217:

  • Yellow — Useful when writing a paper: DRAFT, NOTES, OUTLINE, THESIS
  • Green — Presume: FIGURE, GATHER, IMAGINE, SUPPOSE
  • Blue — Social media sections: FEED, MESSAGES, NOTIFICATIONS, PROFILE
  • Purple — ___ boxing: BEAT, KICK, SHADOW, UN

Keep your streak going

Connections tends to reward patience. Players who pause before submitting a group, consider whether any word could fit elsewhere and save uncertain guesses for last often avoid costly mistakes.

Sunday's puzzle is a strong reminder that when five words seem to fit one category, one of them almost certainly belongs to the purple group.

A new Connections puzzle will be available at midnight local time, giving players another chance to test their skills on Monday.

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