If you’re looking for the August 11 Connections hints and answers, we’ve got you covered right here:

It’s Wednesday and you know what that means: it’s time for another round of Connections !

I’m so glad that Ted Lasso is back. It’s such a lovely, uncynical show that isn’t afraid to put its characters in vulnerable positions. I’m looking forward to watching the second episode of this season when I have a chance today.

When I was looking up some coverage of the new season, I stumbled upon an interview co-creator and star Jason Sudeikis gave to Entertainment Weekly in 2020. While citing Gandhi, he said, “Create the world where being nice, being uncynical, being egoless, being empathetic and promoting forgiveness is not something that is weak and happens without consequences.” I love that and I think it’s a message more of us could stand to take to heart.

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 Wednesday, August 12 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 blue, green 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.

  • LEMON
  • TREE
  • HARBOR
  • FINE PRINT
  • GREAT WHITE
  • GREEN
  • GOODBYE
  • NURSE
  • BULL
  • BING
  • FOSTER
  • SCOTT
  • BENES
  • OKAYAMA
  • POISON DART
  • MAINTAIN

Today’s NYT Connections Hints

The hints for today’s Connections categories are:

  • 🟨 Yellow group — keep the emotion alive
  • 🟩 Green group — kissing one might turn it into a prince, but I would advise against doing so
  • 🟦 Blue group — peacocking, perhaps, like crane, winger, arthur and malone
  • 🟪 Purple group — as we like to do around here on Mondays with the help of an upbeat song, begin on a positive note

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 — HARBOR
  • 🟩 Green group — TREE
  • 🟦 Blue group — LEMON
  • 🟪 Purple group — FINE PRINT

Today’s NYT Connections Categories

Today’s Connections groups are...

  • 🟨 Yellow group — hold onto, as a feeling
  • 🟩 Green group — kinds of frogs
  • 🟦 Blue group — NBC sitcom surnames
  • 🟪 Purple group — starting with affirmative responses

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 — hold onto, as a feeling (FOSTER, HARBOR, MAINTAIN, NURSE)
  • 🟩 Green group — kinds of frogs (BULL, GREEN, POISON DART, TREE)
  • 🟦 Blue group — NBC sitcom surnames (BENES, BING, LEMON, SCOTT)
  • 🟪 Purple group — starting with affirmative responses (FINE PRINT, GOODBYE, GREAT WHITE, OKAYAMA)

As I was writing out the word list, I thought we might have a group of sharks after GREAT WHITE. But OKAYAMA was bound to have some wordplay going on. "Okay" sprang to mind, and it didn't take long from there to lock in the purples.

The frogs were next. POISON DART gave the game away there.

I then saw what had to be the yellows, so I decided to submit the blues first. I’m not sure of the BENES reference, but clocked the rest to understand the category. I then slid through the yellows to extend my streak to 528 wins.

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. After seeing the yellow category, the lyric "hold on to that feeling" from Journey’s "Don’t Stop Believin’" popped into my head. That fits with our classic rock theme for the recommendations this week. I've gotta do it:

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 .