Introduction
Here are today’s Connections hints and answers for NYT Connections No. 1215 on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. Today’s Connections puzzle features a distinctive purple category requiring players to look for words buried inside other words.
Today’s Connections hints
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the challenging purple group.
Yellow group hint: Obey the instructions.
Green group hint: I’m better than you.
Blue group hint: Group of more than two, less than four.
Purple group hint: Hunt inside the words for surnames of actors.
Answers
Yellow group: Follows, as rules.
Green group: Outdo.
Blue group: Things that come in threes.
Purple group: Ending in actors named Tom.
CNET publishes daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is follows, as rules.
The four answers are heeds, minds, regards and respects.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is outdo.
The four answers are best, eclipse, surpass and top.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is things that come in threes.
The four answers are cheers, stooges, strikes and wishes.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is ending in actors named Tom.
The four answers are autocruise, foolhardy, Mullholland and thanks.
How to play Connections
In Connections, players examine a grid of 16 words and select four that share a common link, repeating this process four times until all words are grouped. Puzzle editors intentionally include overlapping options to mislead solvers.
The platform offers analytical tools like a Connections Bot to score and analyze completed grids for registered participants.
