The October 12, 2026, NYT Connections puzzle has not yet been verified. The New York Times says the daily game releases at midnight in each player’s timezone, so its word board, hints and answers cannot be confirmed before that release. This page does not present unverified answers as fact.
Why October 12’s answers aren’t available yet
The New York Times Help Center says Connections is released daily at midnight in your timezone. The October 12 board is therefore not established by the available information as of October 8, 2026. A third-party search listing surfaced purported categories for October 12, but its page could not be checked; those claims are not confirmed and should not be treated as an answer key.
Connections gives players 16 words to sort into four groups of four, with each group sharing a theme. The game assigns the groups yellow, green, blue and purple colors, from easiest to trickiest. The Times says each puzzle has one solution, while words that appear to fit more than one category make the grouping challenging. See the NYT Connections Help Center for the official rules and release details.
How to play once the puzzle is released
- Open Connections through the NYT Games app, nytimes.com/games/connections, nytimes.com/theathletic or the News app.
- Review all 16 words before choosing a group. Look for a shared meaning or property, but watch for words that could plausibly belong to more than one category.
- Select four words you believe share a connection and submit them. Work through the remaining words to complete the four groups.
The daily game is free to play. The full archive, which dates back to June 12, 2023, is available to All Access and Games subscribers, according to the Help Center.
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Rank #2
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- Includes: Scoreboard, 8 dry-erase slates, 250 doubled-sided word cue cards, rules
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