If you’re looking for the September 30 Connections hints and answers, we’ve got you covered right here:

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

I generally aim to stay as optimistic as I can for my own future, and those of the people around me and the world at large. It’s not always easy for us to have that mindset, especially amid prevalent societal ills, natural disasters and external forces chipping away at what we hold dear. Despondency is often knocking at our doors, if not desperately clawing itself in to make us wither on the vine.

Resisting what we know in our hearts to be wrong is a fundamental human trait. If we trust in ourselves and lift up those around us, we can forge a stronger society even as others attempt to sow division. Maintaining positivity and building community are critical elements of that, and I try to keep that in mind as much as possible.

Speaking of which, we’ve got a wonderful 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 1 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.

  • NATIONAL
  • KEN
  • NECK
  • SHINS
  • ACRO
  • STICK
  • WAIST
  • WALKMEN
  • SITUATE
  • SLEEVE
  • CROSS
  • PLACE
  • SUD
  • POSITION
  • CHEST
  • DECEMBERISTS

Today’s NYT Connections Hints

The hints for today’s Connections categories are:

  • 🟨 Yellow group — drop something in its spot (or elsewhere, it’s up to you!)
  • 🟩 Green group — tailor talk
  • 🟦 Blue group — hold steady, because some pigeon detectives are looking for killers
  • 🟪 Purple group — part of a page, fittingly enough

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 — SITUATE
  • 🟩 Green group — SLEEVE
  • 🟦 Blue group — WALKMEN
  • 🟪 Purple group — KEN

Today’s NYT Connections Categories

Today’s Connections groups are...

  • 🟨 Yellow group — put
  • 🟩 Green group — dress shirt measurements
  • 🟦 Blue group — 2000s indie rock bands, with “The”
  • 🟪 Purple group — starts of NYT print puzzles

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 — put (PLACE, POSITION, SITUATE, STICK)
  • 🟩 Green group — dress shirt measurements (CHEST, NECK, SLEEVE, WAIST)
  • 🟦 Blue group — 2000s indie rock bands, with “The” (DECEMBERISTS, NATIONAL, SHINS, WALKMEN)
  • 🟪 Purple group — starts of NYT print puzzles (ACRO, CROSS, KEN, SUD)

DECEMBERISTS made the blues clear to me immediately. That would not have fit anywhere else unless there was some wordplay going on.

From there, there greens were easy enough to spot, followed by the yellows (at least once I realized STICK was the fourth one I needed). I don’t believe I’ve ever looked at the puzzle page of the print version of the Times , so would have had no chance with the purples. Getting those as the leftovers extended my streak to 578 games.

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. I was going to use a song from The National here, but I’ll save that for Answers Explained and instead offer up a track from one the bands I referenced in the blue hint. I hadn’t heard “I’m Not Sorry” by The Pigeon Detectives in a very long time until it sprang to mind just now:

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 .