If you’re looking for the October 14 Connections hints and answers, we’ve got you covered right here:

Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a great week so far.

Three years ago, I decided to grow my hair out. The main reason was that I still had a good head of hair at an age when my dad’s had mostly thinned out. Trouble is, I haven’t been to the hairdresser since March and I didn’t realize until recently how long it has gotten at the back. It’s almost level with the bottom of my shoulder blades.

So I need to go get a cut. However, I don’t really know what to do with it. A trim seems easiest, but boring. A dramatic change could be fun, but that’s scary (like any kind of change in my life, really). I work from home, so I don’t have any real restrictions on what I can do. If you have any suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them. I might just go full emo, though.

Anyway, before we start, we’ve got a lovely community on Discord , where we chat about Connections , the rest of the NYT games and all kinds of things. You’re more than welcome to join us!

Also, my weekend editions of this column are available over on my newsletter, Pastimes . I sometimes write about other things that are on my mind there as well.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, October 15 are coming right up. Let’s get rolling!

Connections is a free New York Times daily word game that you can play on the NYT ’s website or Games app. If you have an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the Connections archive, which includes every previous game.

Connections presents you with a grid of 16 words (sometimes phrases, symbols or numbers). The aim is to arrange them into four groups of four. You don’t know how they hit together or what the category for each group is: that’s what you have to figure out.

There’s only one correct solution and there are often red herrings. You can guess incorrectly three times. A fourth wrong guess, and it’s game over.

Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to deduce, followed by green, blue and purple. Often, the yellow and green groups have synonyms, the blues have cultural references and the purples have some kind of wordplay involved. But this is not a hard and fast rule. Be ready for curveballs – part of the fun of Connections is in how the NYT shakes things up to keep you on your toes.

As with Wordle and similar games, it’s easy to share results with your friends using an emoji-based grid. The game tracks your progress too.

Many players take pride in having long win streaks or getting a reverse rainbow – correctly guessing the purple, blue, green and yellow groups in that order with no mistakes. That adds an extra little challenge.

Today’s NYT Connections Word List

After today’s Connections word list, I’ll give you a hint for each category. After that, I’ll reveal one word that goes into each group. Then I’ll reveal the categories, followed by the full answers.

  • SMOKE
  • BASKET
  • DRY
  • FOOT
  • VOLLEY
  • CANNON
  • RUN
  • PICKLE
  • BASE
  • GOAL
  • FORGE
  • FOUNDATION
  • CURE
  • RACINE
  • BOTTOM
  • TOUCHDOWN

Today’s NYT Connections Hints

The hints for today’s Connections categories are:

  • 🟨 Yellow group — save provisions for the future
  • 🟩 Green group — safety, try and ace would fit in here
  • 🟦 Blue group — where things often begin
  • 🟪 Purple group — dip with a difference

One Answer For Each NYT Connections Group

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one answer for each group.

  • 🟨 Yellow group — SMOKE
  • 🟩 Green group — BASKET
  • 🟦 Blue group — BOTTOM
  • 🟪 Purple group — RACINE

Today’s NYT Connections Categories

Today’s Connections groups are...

  • 🟨 Yellow group — ways to preserve food
  • 🟩 Green group — things you can score in sports
  • 🟦 Blue group — lowest part
  • 🟪 Purple group — low landforms with a letter changed

Today’s NYT Connections Answer

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your last chance to look away.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

  • 🟨 Yellow group — ways to preserve food (CURE, DRY, PICKLE, SMOKE)
  • 🟩 Green group — things you can score in sports (BASKET, GOAL, RUN, TOUCHDOWN)
  • 🟦 Blue group — lowest part (BASE, BOTTOM, FOOT, FOUNDATION)
  • 🟪 Purple group — low landforms with a letter changed (CANNON, FORGE, RACINE, VOLLEY)

I thought pretty much right away that the -ball words (BASE, FOOT, PICKLE, BASKET and CANNON) would be a red herring, and that seemed to be the case after I realized two of those fit together with FOUNDATION for the blues.

The yellows were up next and TOUCHDOWN and GOAL locked in the greens in my mind. That left the purples. RACINE did make me think of “ravine.” So, I was able to figure out the category (which also refers to canyon, gorge and valley) before submitting them for my 592nd win in a row.

How did you get on this time? Here’s my grid:

Want to know more about how everything fits together? Let’s explore today’s game in more depth in my NYT Connections Answers Explained column. You can check that out by visiting my author page .

Be sure to check my blog for hints and the answer for tomorrow’s game of Connections if you need them.

P.S. A recent Strands game with a fame theme reminded me of this song, which I hadn’t heard in forever. I had no idea until now that “Superstar” by Jamelia is a cover of a song by a Danish artist. It’s wild because the instrumental track is the same . I still prefer the vibe that Jamelia brings to the song:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Please follow my blog for more NYT Connections hints and help with other word games, and even some video game news, insights and analysis. I’d really appreciate that as it helps me out. If you share this column with others who play Connections, that would be lovely too. You can also read my weekend editions of this column and more of my writing at my newsletter, Pastimes .