NYT Connections Today: Hints and Answers for Puzzle 1223 on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, With Tricky Hungary Trap

NEW YORK — The New York Times released its latest Connections puzzle at midnight local time Friday, featuring a geography-heavy grid with spelling twists designed to catch players who move too quickly.

Puzzle No. 1223 places HUNGARY and HUNGRY side by side, a deliberate trap for players who do not look closely at spelling. Below are hints for each category, followed by the full solution. Readers who want to avoid spoilers should stop before the answers section.

How Connections works

Connections presents a grid of 16 words that players must sort into four groups of four based on a shared theme. Each puzzle has only one correct solution.

The groups are color-coded by difficulty: yellow is the easiest, followed by green, blue and purple, the hardest. Players can make four mistakes before the game ends.

Today's words

The 16 words on Friday's board are: HUNGARY, HUNGRY, HIPPO, CHICKEN, CHIP, CHAD, COOLIDGE, CYRUS, SPAN, MARK, LAOS, NICK, PARAGUAY, SMARTIES, BULGARI and SCRATCH.

Hints for each category

Yellow: Things that can damage or blemish a surface.

Green: Countries that have no coastline.

Blue: Nations in Europe with something missing.

Purple: Look at the beginning of each word for something fashionable.

One word from each group

• Yellow: NICK
• Green: LAOS
• Blue: CYRUS
• Purple: HIPPO

Watch out for these traps

The biggest trap is the pairing of HUNGARY and HUNGRY. Only one of them belongs in the group of landlocked countries, while the other fits a category based on spelling.

CHIP and CHICKEN both begin with "CH," and CHIP could also seem like a food word, but they belong to different groups. CHAD is also a person's name, which may distract players.

SPOILER WARNING: The answers are below.

Today's Connections answers

The solution to NYT Connections No. 1223 on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, is:

Yellow — SURFACE IMPERFECTIONS: CHIP, MARK, NICK, SCRATCH

Each word describes a small flaw or blemish on a surface, such as a chip in a mug or a scratch on a car.

Green — LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES: CHAD, HUNGARY, LAOS, PARAGUAY

Each country has no coastline. Chad is in Africa, Hungary in Europe, Laos in Asia and Paraguay in South America.

Blue — EUROPEAN COUNTRIES MINUS A LETTER: BULGARI, CYRUS, HUNGRY, SPAN

Removing one letter from a European country produces each word: BULGARIA without the final A, CYPRUS without the P, HUNGARY without the A and SPAIN without the I.

Purple — STARTING WITH WORDS FOR "STYLISH": CHICKEN, COOLIDGE, HIPPO, SMARTIES

Each word begins with a term meaning stylish or fashionable: CHIC in CHICKEN, COOL in COOLIDGE, HIP in HIPPO and SMART in SMARTIES.

Why this puzzle can be tricky

Friday's puzzle rewards careful reading. The blue category requires players to recognize country names with a single letter removed, and the presence of real country HUNGARY alongside HUNGRY makes it easy to group the wrong word.

The purple category hides its connection at the start of each word, a common approach in the game's hardest group. COOLIDGE, the surname of the 30th U.S. president, may stand out as an unusual entry and offer a clue.

Players who solve the landlocked countries first can narrow the remaining options, making it easier to spot the missing-letter pattern.

About Connections

Connections launched in 2023 and is edited by Wyna Liu. It has become one of The New York Times' most popular daily games, alongside Wordle, Strands and the Mini Crossword.

Tips for future puzzles

When two words look nearly identical, check whether one belongs in a spelling-based category. Hidden words at the beginning or end of entries are a frequent purple theme, and solving the most obvious group first can help narrow the remaining choices.

A new Connections puzzle will be available at midnight local time.