Connections Hint Today (October 19, 2026)

Each stage, and exactly what it gives away

The first stage for each tier is a clue generated from the day's puzzle data by a script, and it takes one of three forms: the range of word lengths in the group plus one of its four words; the number of words in the category name and its first word; or simply one of the four words. Every version can be checked against the board, and some versions name a word, so open it only when you are ready to see one.

The second stage is the Times' category name as it appears on the solved board. It usually settles the group, though the purple names often only make sense once you know the words — ENDING IN GAMBITS on 11 October tells you where to look, not what to find. The third stage lists the four words. Each stage is behind its own button and nothing opens until you press it, so the page can be read from the top without a spoiler.

Which tier to open first

The instinct is to open the tier you are stuck on. Often a different one helps more:

• If you have three groups solved and four words left, you don't need a hint — those four are the last group.
• If you have found nothing and have used no mistakes, open the yellow clue only; Liu designed yellow as the foothold, and one group unlocks the rest.
• If you have used three mistakes, open the category name for the tier you are most sure of and check your four words against it before guessing again; the next mistake ends the game.
• If you have a "One away...", open the clue for the tier you were aiming at; a named word tells you which of your four belongs.

Getting back to the board

A hint is only worth taking if you go back and play. After a clue, look at the board with it in mind before reading further — the point of staging is that one word or one category name is often enough to see the rest of the group, and finding it yourself is the reason to use hints rather than the answer. If you need the words, they are one press away; the full answer page has all four groups laid out at once for a player who has finished or given up.

The clues are generated from the board's own data when the board is published at midnight Eastern, by the pipeline on the editorial policy page, and they are never rewritten after publication. Because they are mechanical, they are also consistent: a clue that names a word always names one of the four in that tier, and a length range always covers all four words, including any multi-word entries.

Getting better at purple

Hints solve today; technique solves tomorrow. In the archive window, 36 of 41 purple titles named a letter or phrase trick — starting with or ending in a hidden word, a fill-in-the-blank, a letter added or removed — and the Connections guide lists them with examples. The Connections helper lays out spelling patterns on a pasted board without naming the groups, which is a different kind of help from the clues on this page. And the archive of past boards, read purple-first, is the fastest way to stop needing either.

A worked example of taking one hint

Take the board from 11 October 2026. Suppose you have solved PUT TO USE (APPLY, HARNESS, UTILIZE, WIELD) and MONTHLY BILLS (CABLE, ELECTRICITY, INTERNET, PHONE), and the remaining eight — GLOVES, ICE SCRAPER, MAP, REGISTRATION, EMPLOY, PATRICK, PERUSE, SYNTACTIC — refuse to split. Open the purple category name: ENDING IN GAMBITS. Read the endings and PLOY, TRICK, RUSE and TACTIC appear in EMPLOY, PATRICK, PERUSE and SYNTACTIC. The other four are THINGS YOU MIGHT FIND IN A GLOVE COMPARTMENT. One hint, two guesses, board solved, and you never saw the word list.

The tiers, and what a clue for each looks like

The clues are generated the same way for every tier, so their usefulness depends on the group. A clue that names one word helps most on yellow and green, where one member points straight at the category. A clue that gives the length range helps on boards with phrases: when the purple words on 1 September ran to AIMEE MANN and WISHY-WASHY, a long range was itself a signal. A clue that gives the category name's first word is strongest on purple, where titles start with telling words — STARTING, ENDING, PHRASES — that name the mechanism without naming the answer.

The second stage shows the category exactly as the Times prints it on the solved board, and the Times' names are part of the craft: yellow's is plain, purple's often describes the mechanism. Reading a purple name without the words can be the most efficient hint on the page — "STARTS OF NYT PRINT PUZZLES" on 1 October sends you straight to ACRO, CROSS, KEN and SUD — while a blue name like ___ HEART on 8 September tells you the trick and leaves you to find the four.

Hints and streaks

The game cannot tell whether you used a hint from this page; what its stats screen records is your mistakes, wins and streaks. Whether a hinted board counts to you is your call. A private tally of hint-free days measures improvement better than the streak does, and the Times' own badges point the same way: Perfect Puzzle rewards a board with no mistakes and Purple First rewards finding the purple group before the others. Opening only the purple category name, and only after you have looked at the board for a while, keeps both within reach.

The mechanisms the purple category name points at

Because the purple category name usually describes a mechanism, it helps to know the mechanisms by the words the Times uses for them. In the archive window: titles beginning STARTING WITH or STARTS OF (6 boards) mean read the front of each word; ENDING IN or ENDING WITH (10) mean read the back; a title with ___ (11, plus WORDS BEFORE "FORCE") means add the same word to each; PLUS A LETTER, MINUS LAST LETTER and ACCENTS REMOVED (5) mean the words are deliberately off by a letter; HIDING and INSIDE (2) mean look across the space between words; and ANAGRAMS (1) means what it says. The Connections guide has an example of each. Once you can read the mechanism straight off a name, the third stage is rarely needed.

Frequently asked questions

Recent Connections answers

Every past puzzle is in the Connections archive. New here? Start with the Connections guide.