If you’re looking for the October 12 Connections hints and answers, we’ve got you covered right here:

Hey there, Connectors! I hope your week is off to a great start!

I really enjoyed watching the first Banana Bowl over the weekend. That was the championship game of the Banana Ball Championship League, a fresh spin on baseball that’s all about keeping the fans entertained. Players sing and dance on the field and are incentivized to pull off trick plays. Fans get in on the action too, as if they catch a foul ball, the batter is ruled out.

There are lots of other fun spins on traditional baseball rules, and there’s music playing the entire time to keep fans more entertained. Some batters are even at the plate on stilts and unicycles! Though I’m a little apprehensive that it might be overwhelming, I’d love to go to a Banana Ball game someday.

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 Tuesday, October 13 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.

  • EYE
  • LASH
  • LIPS
  • JACKET
  • TIE
  • SENSE
  • CHANGE
  • BELT
  • RING
  • TASTE
  • CUP
  • HITCH
  • CANNON
  • TETHER
  • FLAIR
  • ENDS

Today’s NYT Connections Hints

The hints for today’s Connections categories are:

  • 🟨 Yellow group — qualities for a trendsetter
  • 🟩 Green group — keep it together
  • 🟦 Blue group — only for the very best
  • 🟪 Purple group — maybe worth tightening up

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 — TASTE
  • 🟩 Green group — LASH
  • 🟦 Blue group — JACKET
  • 🟪 Purple group — ENDS

Today’s NYT Connections Categories

Today’s Connections groups are...

  • 🟨 Yellow group — discernment
  • 🟩 Green group — fasten
  • 🟦 Blue group — sports championship prizes
  • 🟪 Purple group — loose _____

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 — discernment (EYE, FLAIR, SENSE, TASTE)
  • 🟩 Green group — fasten (HITCH, LASH, TETHER, TIE)
  • 🟦 Blue group — sports championship prizes (BELT, CUP, JACKET, RING)
  • 🟪 Purple group — loose _____ (CANNON, CHANGE, ENDS, LIPS)

The greens were up first for me, thanks to TETHER and LASH. Then BELT and CUP made the blues clear. (The Banana Bowl winners got to wear robes and a crown and sit on a throne!)

From there, CANNON and CHANGE unlocked the purples. I probably should have figured out the yellows earlier, but that’s how it goes sometimes. That got me to my 590th win on the spin.

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

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

P.S. Let’s go with a pop number from the early '90s today. “Constant Craving” by k.d. lang is a real good pop 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 .