Unlock the Secret to NYT Connections #812: Sunday’s Puzzle Clues That Will Boost Your Brainpower Instantly!

Ever find yourself staring at today’s New York Times Connections puzzle wondering if the words are secretly mocking you? Yeah, been there — Sunday’s #812 had me scratching my head like it was some puzzling protein shake recipe gone wrong. Honestly, the struggle was real, especially when blue and purple stumped me into submission. But hey, these puzzles are crafted to tease your brain and make you question your very existence as a “connector.” If you’re stuck and ready to trade some frustration for a few aha moments, I’m here to share not only the answers but a handful of juicy hints to help you breeze through the chaos. Trust me, peeking isn’t cheating—it’s just playing smart when your brain’s running on empty after a tough session. Ready to turn those confounding grids into satisfying wins? Let’s dive in. LEARN MORE

Playing today’s New York Times Connections word game but can’t seem to figure out any groups? I had the same issue — it was tough! But now that I know the answers, I’ll share some hints (and spoilers if you want them) to help you get through Sunday’s puzzle: #812. Don’t feel bad for taking a peek — these puzzles are designed to keep you guessing.

Since we’re in this together, I’ll share how I did each day. I unfortunately ran out of mistakes and didn’t solve blue or purple — they’re pretty tricky today, and I definitely face-palmed after seeing what the purple group was. It shouldn’t have been this hard.

If you’re new to NYT Connections, we’ve got some tips to help you along the way. Also, check out today’s Wordle hints and answer.

How to play NYT Connections

NYT Connections is a surprisingly difficult word game and if you play, you’re now considered a “connector.” There are 16 words presented in a four-by-four grid and your goal is to match four words into their respective color-coded groups (yellow, green, blue, purple). Yellow is the easiest to guess while purple is the hardest.

Your job is to find out how the four words are connected to a specific group. For instance, in one recent puzzle, the blue group hint was “related to buying a home” and the words were appraisal, escrow, insurance and mortgage.

If you make a mistake when you submit, that’s okay. You get four guesses before the game is over and the answers are revealed. You can also click on the lightbulb icon in the game to get some hints, but we’ll also provide those here.

If you find yourself obsessed with this game after completing just one puzzle, I’ve got bad news for you. You can only play once a day. The timer resets each night at midnight.

Tips for playing NYT Connections

I only recently started playing Connections, but here are some tips I’ve found useful along the way.

1. When you get an answer wrong, pay attention to the text that appears at the top of the puzzle. “One away” means you only got one word wrong. Analyze each word to find one that might fit better in another group and try a new word.

2. If you’re stuck, shuffle the board. You can shuffle as many times as you’d like to help you see some different word combinations.

3. Try to find the easy yellow group words first. Those words usually stick out because they have so much in common — they’re often synonyms of one another. But be wary of the trick words that could fit into multiple categories.

4. Stumped? Come back to the puzzle later with a fresher mind. Trying to solve a difficult puzzle without “sleeping” on it might result in too many mistakes.

Today’s NYT Connections hints

Check out these hints if you’re having a hard time grouping them together.

I’ll give you my own hints:

Yellow group: Judge someone

Green group: Things you might play with

Blue group: Same spelling, different meaning

Purple group: Words that end with “sticks”

Here’s one word from each group:

Yellow group hint word: Blast

Green group hint word: Cards

Blue group hint word: Coordinate

Purple group hint word: Fiddle

Okay, on to the official group names for a bigger hint. If you don’t want to know what those are, then stop scrolling.

NYT Connections group names

Here are the group names for today’s puzzle.

Yellow group: Criticize harshly

Green group: Common components of board games

Blue group: Heteronyms

Purple group: ___ sticks

Warning, spoilers ahead! If you scroll past this, the answers are right below.

Final warning! Last chance to go back and finish the game.

Today’s NYT Connections answers (spoilers)

Here are the Connections groups and the words that go with them.

Yellow group: Criticize harshly (bash, blast, flame, roast)

Green group: Common components of board games (board, cards, dice, pieces)

Blue group: Heteronyms (axes, bass, coordinate, does)

Purple group: ___ sticks (chop, drum, fiddle, fish)

My results today

This was the hardest Connections puzzle I’ve tried to solve in a while. I tried animals and music instruments, but neither of those was even close. Fingers crossed I have an easier time tomorrow!

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🟩🟩🟩🟩

🟨🟨🟨🟨

🟪🟦🟪🟦

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Thanks for reading! Share how you did today in the comments.