Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.
What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (game #1226) - today's words
Today's NYT Connections words are…
NYT Connections today (game #1226) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- Available at Burger King’s rival
Need more clues?
We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #1226) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- "MC" THINGS AT MCDONALD'S
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #1226) - the answers
The answers to today's Connections, game #1226, are…
- BOIL, FUME, RAVE, STEAM
- BLATHER, GAS, HOT AIR, WIND
- BLUE: "MC" THINGS AT MCDONALD'S: FLURRY, MUFFIN, NUGGETS, RIB
- ALIBIS, BALLOON, ESCROW, MOHAWK
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 1 mistake
I took a very circuitous route to getting my first group today.
Thinking that BALLOON were a clue I connected STEAM, HOT AIR, GAS, and WIND, reasoning these were all things that, erm, made a balloon move? The 'One away' pop-up helped me look again and I realized that with the addition of BLATHER we had a quartet of words describing folks who are, as my Grandad used to say, all mouth and no trousers.
From here "MC" THINGS AT MCDONALD'S was easier to spot — although it did remind me that I have never had a McRIB, a delicacy that has only appeared on UK menus a couple of times since the 1980s.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Sunday, October 18, 2026, game #1225)
- YELLOW: PLACES TO STORE CLOTHES: BUREAU, CHEST, TRUNK, WARDROBE
- GREEN: THINGS THAT COME IN STICKS: BUTTER, DEODORANT, DYNAMITE, INCENSE
- ANGEL, COCO, OBSESSION, OPIUM
- PURPLE: STARTING WITH THINGS THAT CLOUD THE AIR: FOGERTY, HAZEL, MISTER, VAPORETTO
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.