A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing ‘today’s game’ while others are playing ‘yesterday’s’. If you’re looking for Saturday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, October 11 (game #853).
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 #854) – today’s words
Today’s NYT Connections words are…
- BEGINS
- SWIFT
- DAYS
- RETURNS
- FOREVER
- ENDING
- ROBIN
- TRAILS
- SWALLOW
- PIONEERS
- PERMANENT
- INSTITUTES
- EVERLASTING
- KITE
- LAUNCHES
- ETERNAL
NYT Connections today (game #854) – hint #1 – group hints
What are some clues for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Won’t fade away
- GREEN: At the start
- BLUE: Feathered friends
- PURPLE: Start with the opposite of “sad”
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 #854) – hint #2 – group answers
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: FOR ALL TIME
- GREEN: ESTABLISHES
- BLUE: BIRDS
- PURPLE: HAPPY ____
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #854) – the answers
The answers to today’s Connections, game #854, are…
- YELLOW: FOR ALL TIME ETERNAL, EVERLASTING, FOREVER, PERMANENT
- GREEN: ESTABLISHES BEGINS, INSTITUTES, LAUNCHES, PIONEERS
- BLUE: BIRDS KITE, ROBIN, SWALLOW, SWIFT
- PURPLE: HAPPY ____ DAYS, ENDING, RETURNS, TRAILS
- My rating: Easy
- My score: 1 mistake
I made hard work of this game, where even the purple-hardest group was quite straightforward.
Hopefully I wasn’t the only nerd to put FOREVER, BEGINS, RETURNS, and ETERNAL together thinking that the connection was Batman. Alas, it was not to be, but the error forced me to think again more clearly.
SWIFT has appeared a few times in bird groups and I’m always tempted to make a lame joke about being a Swifty as they really are the most remarkable creatures.
Everything about them is extraordinary – much like Taylor, they never stop moving, spending their entire lives on the wing, eating, sleeping and mating while in flight. Well, that last bit isn’t like Taylor. As far as we know.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections answers (Saturday, October 11, game #853)
- YELLOW: EQUIPMENT GEAR, KIT, STUFF, TACKLE
- GREEN: DRESS IN DON, PUT ON, SPORT, WEAR
- BLUE: STREET SUFFIXES ALLEY, COURT, LANE, WAY
- PURPLE: NICKNAMES THAT HAVE OTHER MEANINGS BILL, BOB, PAT, TOM
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.
