Here is everything you need for Connections #1,238, the puzzle for Saturday, October 31, 2026. Start with the board, move through the hints, and open the solution only when you must.
Our read of the board: one tile is a phrase rather than a single word; two of the category names are long, which tends to mean a specific, lateral theme. As always, the purple group is the one built to mislead; if you see an obvious category of five or six words, that is the trap.
Today's board
The sixteen words, in the order they appear on the board. No spoilers here.
STAYCATIONGUITARDIRTYKILLERSICKDOWNFALLSHAKENUPTENNIS RACKETSHAKESPEAREWICKEDTASSELSITCOMMARIONETTEDRYGNARLY
Hints for today's Connections
Three levels of help. Level one nudges, level two points, level three names the categories one at a time.
Level 1 · The categories, by first letterYellow: starts with W, 6 wordsGreen: starts with M, 2 wordsBlue: starts with T, 3 wordsPurple: starts with S, 4 words
Level 2 · One word from each groupYellow contains GNARLYGreen contains DRYBlue contains TASSELPurple contains STAYCATION
Level 3 · The category namesYellow category
WORDS MEANING GOOD THAT SOUND BAD
Green category
MARTINI SPECIFICATIONS
Blue category
THINGS WITH STRINGS
Purple category
STARTING WITH DOG COMMANDS
Today's Connections answers
The full solution to Connections #1,238 is behind the button, yellow to purple. Nothing is shown until you click.
▶ Reveal the answers to Connections #1,238
WORDS MEANING GOOD THAT SOUND BAD
GNARLY, KILLER, SICK, WICKED
Yellow · the most straightforward group
MARTINI SPECIFICATIONS
DIRTY, DRY, SHAKEN, UP
Green · usually a step harder
THINGS WITH STRINGS
GUITAR, MARIONETTE, TASSEL, TENNIS RACKET
Blue · where the red herrings start to bite
STARTING WITH DOG COMMANDS
DOWNFALL, SHAKESPEARE, SITCOM, STAYCATION
Purple · the trickiest, often wordplay
Yesterday's Connections
Connections #1,237 on Friday, October 30 had these four groups (our full write-up is still up):
PARTS OF A CAMERAFLASH, LENS, SHUTTER, VIEWFINDER
AROUND A THEATER STAGEBACKDROP, CURTAIN, PIT, WINGS
THROW ___HANDS, PILLOW, RUG, SHADE
FRUIT WITH FIRST LETTER CHANGEDDEMON, DRAPE, GLUM, GRANGE
How Connections works
Sixteen words hide four groups of four that share something in common. Pick four, submit, and the row locks in if you are right; four wrong submissions end the game. The groups are colour-coded by difficulty, yellow being the most direct and purple the most devious, and most boards include at least one word that could plausibly sit in two groups. Today's puzzle was edited by Wyna Liu at The New York Times.
A reliable habit: before submitting anything, find the five or six words that seem to belong to one obvious category and work out which of them is the imposter. Solving the strange group first is often easier than solving the obvious one.
Come back tomorrow for Connections #1,239, and find today's Wordle and the rest of the Puzzles desk in the section menu.