If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Sunday, October 15, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for October 15, NYT Connections #126! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.
If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.
Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And further down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!
Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?
There are some movie references, but you’ll probably get them even if you don’t know the movies.
Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle
Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:
- Yellow category – Can we build it? Yes we can!
- Green category – Yoink!
- Blue category – You’ll want some control on your keyboard for this one.
- Purple category – That’ll do, pig.
Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?
Nothing too tricky, just the usual ambiguous meanings.
Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.
BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!
We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)
What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?
- A FILE can be a tool that scrapes off little bits of wood or metal, or a folder containing information.
- A WRENCH can be a tool as well, or it can be a verb meaning to YANK or twist something suddenly.
- FIND is the command you execute when you hit control-F or command-F to search in a page. Such as this page, where you might have used the feature on the word “ambiguous” to jump to this section.
- BABE could be Babe Ruth or Babe Didrikson Zaharias, but there are no sports themes today. Think of the pig.
What are the categories in today’s Connections?
- Yellow: TOOLS
- Green: PULL
- Blue: SHORTCUT COMMANDS
- Purple: TITLE MOVIE ANIMALS
DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW
Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.
What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?
The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is TOOLS and the words are: FILE, HAMMER, LEVEL, SAW.
What are the green words in today’s Connections?
The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is PULL and the words are: JERK, TUG, WRENCH, YANK.
What are the blue words in today’s Connections?
The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is SHORTCUT COMMANDS and the words are: COPY, FIND, PRINT, SAVE.
What are the purple words in today’s Connections?
The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is TITLE MOVIE ANIMALS and the words are: BABE, BEETHOVEN, CHARLOTTE[’s Web], [Free] WILLY.
How I solved today’s Connections
I saw JERK and WRENCH as actions, but also FILE and WRENCH as tools. Then again, FILE could go with COPY and SAVE. I jotted my words down on paper and found I could only get four in the JERK group if I included WRENCH, which meant I had to take WRENCH out of the tools and replace it with FILE; then take FILE out of the computer actions and replace it with FIND. That left four names all on their own in an untouched group.
Ready? Let’s go. JERK, YANK, WRENCH, TUG. Got it. 🟩 COPY, SAVE, FILE, PRINT—dangit, I clicked FILE instead of FIND. Resubmitted with the grouping I intended, and that’s a hit too. 🟦 FILE, SAW, HAMMER, and LEVEL are my tools. 🟨
That leaves WILLY, CHARLOTTE, BEETHOVEN, and BABE. I’m thinking Free Willy, Charlotte’s Web, the dog movie, and the pig movie. And that’s a solve. 🟪
Connections
Puzzle #126
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How to play Connections
I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:
First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).
Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.
You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.
How to win Connections
The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.
If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.
Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!