by: Gael Cooper | CNET
Here are today’s Connections hints and answers for NYT Connections No. 1215 on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. Today’s Connections puzzle has an especially goofy purple category. Movie fans might do better than most, but you’re still going to have to hunt for words buried inside other words. We’ll give you a hint for each color group first, then reveal today’s Connections answers further down.
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: 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.
Read more: We Need to Talk About That Doggone Connections Puzzle
Today’s Connections 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.
What are today’s Connections answers?
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 (Cruise), foolhardy (Hardy), Mullholland (Holland) and thanks (Hanks).
How to play Connections
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 — Hey, those are four animals! — is almost always going to be wrong. I’ve compiled my favorite tips for Connections if you need a boost.
The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” She’s been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She’s Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line. See full bio