The New York Times Connections
The New York Times Connections

NEW YORK — Friday's edition of The New York Times' Connections puzzle leans heavily on sports and television, but a few cleverly placed words could send even seasoned players down the wrong path.

Puzzle No. 1216, released for Friday, Oct. 9, 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 traps 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, then blue, with purple usually the trickiest and often built on wordplay.

The Times launched Connections in June 2023, and it has since become one of the most popular games in the newspaper's lineup, alongside Wordle and the crossword. Much of its appeal comes from red herrings, words that appear to fit more than one category but belong in only one.

Like other Times games, a new puzzle is released at midnight local time.

Today's 16 words

Friday's grid includes the following words:

BLOWOUT, ROMP, ROUT, SWEEP, CHANNEL, INPUT, POWER, VOLUME, HIGHLIGHTS, RECAP, SCORES, STATS, CONDITIONER, GUITAR, KISS, QUOTES

Hints for Connections No. 1216

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

  • Yellow: Think of a game that was never close.
  • Green: Think about the buttons you press while sitting on the couch.
  • Blue: Think about what a studio crew shows after the final whistle.
  • Purple: Each word can follow the same three-letter word, one of the four classical elements.

More revealing hints

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

  • Yellow: ROUT
  • Green: POWER
  • Blue: HIGHLIGHTS
  • Purple: GUITAR

Strategy tips for today's puzzle

Watch for the salon trap. Today's biggest red herring may be a hidden hair-care theme. BLOWOUT, HIGHLIGHTS and CONDITIONER can all describe services or products at a hair salon, and players who spot that link may be tempted to build a fourth group around it. No such group exists, so locking in those words together will cost a mistake.

Sports words overlap. With both a "decisive win" group and a "sports show" group in play, words like SWEEP, SCORES and BLOWOUT can feel interchangeable. SCORES, for example, could suggest winning, but it belongs with features of a broadcast. Take a moment to decide whether each word describes the result of a game or something viewers see on screen.

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Start with the clearest group. Many players find it easiest to begin with the most obvious category. Today, the TV remote words are fairly self-contained, which makes the green group a good place to start and reduces the number of words left to sort.

Look for a common partner word. When a few leftover words seem completely unrelated, the purple group often relies on a word that can go before or after each one. Try placing a short word in front of today's oddballs, such as KISS and QUOTES, and see what sticks.

Use the shuffle button. Rearranging the grid can break the visual groupings that lead players toward 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. 1216 for Friday, Oct. 9, 2026:

  • Yellow — Decisive victory: BLOWOUT, ROMP, ROUT, SWEEP
  • Green — Controlled by a TV remote: CHANNEL, INPUT, POWER, VOLUME
  • Blue — Features of a sports show: HIGHLIGHTS, RECAP, SCORES, STATS
  • Purple — Air ___: CONDITIONER, GUITAR, KISS, QUOTES

Breaking down the groups

The yellow group gathers words that describe one-sided wins. A BLOWOUT and a ROUT both describe a game that was never in doubt, while a ROMP suggests an easy victory and a SWEEP describes winning every game in a series.

The green group lists functions found on almost any television remote. CHANNEL and VOLUME are the most familiar, while INPUT, used to switch between devices such as streaming boxes and game consoles, may be the last one players spot.

The blue group covers what viewers typically see on a sports broadcast or highlight show, from HIGHLIGHTS and a RECAP of the action to SCORES from around the league and STATS on top performers. Its sports theme sits close to the yellow group, which is likely where many players will stumble.

The purple group rewards players who think about word pairings. AIR CONDITIONER, AIR GUITAR, AIR KISS and AIR QUOTES are all common phrases. The category is a classic example of the purple group's approach, where words that seem unrelated share a hidden partner.

Yesterday's answers

For players catching up, here are the groups from Thursday, Oct. 8, puzzle No. 1215:

  • Yellow — Follows, as rules: HEEDS, MINDS, REGARDS, RESPECTS
  • Green — Outdo: BEST, ECLIPSE, SURPASS, TOP
  • Blue — Things that come in threes: CHEERS, STOOGES, STRIKES, WISHES

Thursday's purple group required players to recognize names hidden at the ends of longer words, one of the puzzle's trickier wordplay formats.

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 their most uncertain guesses for last often avoid costly mistakes.

Many players also aim for a "reverse rainbow," solving the purple group first and the yellow group last without any errors. With today's purple group relying on a single shared word, it may be a good day to try.

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

Note: There are no quotes in this piece. The answers match several same-day sources; Thursday's purple group is described only in general terms because I couldn't confirm its exact words.

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