Puzzle Overview
Here are today’s Connections hints and answers for NYT Connections No. 1,220 on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026. For once, the purple category wasn’t too tough. We’ll give you a hint for each color group first, then reveal today’s Connections answers further down.
Today’s Connections hints
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough and sometimes bizarre purple group.
Yellow group hint: Perception.
Green group hint: Hook it up.
Blue group hint: What you win.
Purple group hint: Not tight.
Answers Breakdown
Yellow group: Discernment.
Green group: Fasten.
Blue group: Sports championship prizes.
Purple group: Loose.
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 discernment.
The four answers are eye, flair, sense and taste.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is fasten.
The four answers are hitch, lash, tether and tie.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is sports championship prizes.
The four answers are belt, cup, jacket and ring.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is loose.
The four answers are cannon, change, ends and lips.
Gameplay Guide
In Connections, you look at a grid of 16 words and pick four words that have a connection to one other. You do this four times until all 16 words in the puzzle are grouped. The tough part is that Times puzzle editor Wyna Liu chooses words that could fit in multiple groups. The obvious guess is almost always going to be wrong.
The Times has a Connections Bot to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers after you play.
