Another day, another sixteen words that almost make sense. This is our guide to Connections #1,236 for Thursday, October 29, 2026: hints first, categories second, the full solution last.
Our read of the board: 5 tiles are phrases rather than single words; 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.
TUXEDOTRAFFIC LIGHTROMANEMPERORPARKING METERCANDY CORNNEAPOLITANPIGGY BANKTYPEWRITERWISHING WELLGOTHICANTARCTICACALICOWADDLESANSPAYPHONE
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 T, 5 wordsGreen: starts with A, 3 wordsBlue: starts with E, 4 wordsPurple: starts with T, 5 words
Level 2 · One word from each groupYellow contains PARKING METERGreen contains EMPERORBlue contains SANSPurple contains TRAFFIC LIGHT
Level 3 · The category namesYellow category
THINGS YOU PUT COINS INTO
Green category
ASSOCIATED WITH PENGUINS
Blue category
ENDS OF FAMOUS FONTS
Purple category
THINGS THAT FEATURE THREE COLORS
Today's Connections answers
The full solution to Connections #1,236 is behind the button, yellow to purple. Nothing is shown until you click.
▶ Reveal the answers to Connections #1,236
THINGS YOU PUT COINS INTO
PARKING METER, PAYPHONE, PIGGY BANK, WISHING WELL
Yellow · the most straightforward group
ASSOCIATED WITH PENGUINS
ANTARCTICA, EMPEROR, TUXEDO, WADDLE
Green · usually a step harder
ENDS OF FAMOUS FONTS
GOTHIC, ROMAN, SANS, TYPEWRITER
Blue · where the red herrings start to bite
THINGS THAT FEATURE THREE COLORS
CALICO, CANDY CORN, NEAPOLITAN, TRAFFIC LIGHT
Purple · the trickiest, often wordplay
Yesterday's Connections
Connections #1,235 on Wednesday, October 28 had these four groups:
ROMANTIC LIKINGATTRACTION, CRUSH, FEELINGS, INTEREST
COMPONENTS OF AN EMAILATTACHMENT, BODY, SIGNATURE, SUBJECT
NASA MARS ROVERSCURIOSITY, OPPORTUNITY, PERSEVERANCE, SPIRIT
HOMOPHONES OF PATHSCOARSE, RODE, ROUT, WEIGH
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.
Connections resets at midnight in your local time zone. We will be back tomorrow with the hints for #1,237.