NEW YORK — The New York Times released its latest Connections puzzle at midnight local time Saturday, featuring a mix of smartphone sounds, photography terms, sea creatures and a culturally themed purple category.
Many players rated Puzzle No. 1224 as relatively easy, though the purple group may still require some outside knowledge. Below are hints for each category, followed by the full solution. Readers who want to avoid spoilers should stop before the answers section.
How Connections works
Connections presents a grid of 16 words that players must sort into four groups of four based on a shared theme. Each puzzle has only one correct solution.
The groups are color-coded by difficulty: yellow is the easiest, followed by green, blue and purple, the hardest. Players can make four mistakes before the game ends.
Today’s words
The 16 words on Saturday’s board are: BREA, KING, SNAP, PING, STILL, PAZ, SNOW, SHOT, BOHEME, FIDDLER, ALERT, PRINT, CHIME, SCALA, HERMIT and DING.
Words such as ALERT, SHOT and KING each have more than one meaning, so players should make sure all four words in a group share the same sense.
Hints for each category
Yellow: Sounds or signals your phone uses to get your attention.
Green: Other words for a picture you might take with a camera.
Blue: Types of sea creatures with claws.
Purple: Each word can follow a Spanish or Italian word meaning “the.”
One word from each group
- Yellow: PING
- Green: SNAP
- Blue: HERMIT
- Purple: PAZ
Watch out for these traps
SNAP could fit with sounds, alongside PING, DING and CHIME, but it belongs with the photography group. KING and SNOW may not immediately suggest sea creatures, which could slow down players working on the blue group.
STILL could also seem like a word for silence or calm, but here it refers to a still photograph.
SPOILER WARNING: The answers are below.
Today’s Connections answers
The solution to NYT Connections No. 1224 on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, is:
Yellow — DIGITAL NOTIFICATIONS: ALERT, CHIME, DING, PING
Each word describes a sound or signal a phone or computer uses to notify users of a new message or update.
Green — PHOTO: PRINT, SHOT, SNAP, STILL
Each word can mean a photograph.
Blue — KINDS OF CRABS: FIDDLER, HERMIT, KING, SNOW
Each word names a type of crab: fiddler crab, hermit crab, king crab and snow crab.
Purple — LA ___: BOHEME, BREA, PAZ, SCALA
Each word completes a well-known name beginning with “La”: La Bohème, Giacomo Puccini’s famous opera; the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles; La Paz, the seat of government of Bolivia; and La Scala, the celebrated opera house in Milan.
Why this puzzle works
Saturday’s puzzle offers a relatively gentle path, with the yellow and green groups sharing a theme of modern technology and everyday photography. Solving those first leaves eight words, making the crab group easier to spot.
The purple group rewards general knowledge, drawing on opera, geography and landmarks. Players unfamiliar with some of the names may still identify the pattern once they notice that each word sounds like it could follow “La.”
About Connections
Connections launched in 2023 and is edited by Wyna Liu. It has become one of The New York Times’ most popular daily games, alongside Wordle, Strands and the Mini Crossword.
Tips for future puzzles
Words that seem out of place, such as BREA or SCALA, often point toward the purple category. Look for hidden phrases, missing words or proper names that share a common beginning or ending.
A new Connections puzzle will be available at midnight local time.
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