The Thursday edition of NYT Connections arrives with puzzle #1215, serving up a grid that rewards flexible reading, a little cultural knowledge, and a sharp eye for concealed names. Familiar expressions offer an inviting route in, but surface meanings can pull you off course.
What Makes Connections Tick
For newcomers, NYT Connections presents 16 words that must be sorted into four thematic groups of four. The twist? You're limited to four mistakes, and the color-coded difficulty system (yellow being easiest, purple being trickiest) means surface-level connections often mislead.
Since its June 2023 launch, Connections has carved out its niche in the Times' puzzle ecosystem, standing alongside Wordle and the crossword as a daily ritual for millions of players worldwide. The game's genius lies in its red herrings, words that could fit multiple categories but belong in only one.
Today's Grid at a Glance
Here are the 16 words staring back at you in puzzle #1215:
FOOLHARDY | MINDS | THANKS | STOOGES
BEST | WISHES | REGARDS | ECLIPSE
CHEERS | MULHOLLAND | RESPECTS | STRIKES
TOP | AUTOCRUISE | HEEDS | SURPASS
A seemingly random collection that somehow connects into four perfect categories.
Strategic Hints (No Spoilers Yet)
Yellow Category Nudge: Think about conduct in a setting where expectations have already been established.
Green Category Clue: A competitive setting could help you find a useful reading.
Blue Category Hint: Look for a shared convention across otherwise unrelated settings.
Purple Category Teaser: Pay attention to the letters within each entry, rather than its whole meaning.
The Full Solutions
Last chance to solve independently: answers below
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Yellow (Follows, As Rules): HEEDS, MINDS, REGARDS, RESPECTS
HEEDS, MINDS, REGARDS, and RESPECTS all fit the sense of observing rules or taking them into account. Reading them as verbs unlocks the connection, especially when MINDS suggests thoughts and REGARDS suggests a letter's closing.
Green (Outdo): BEST, ECLIPSE, SURPASS, TOP
BEST, ECLIPSE, SURPASS, and TOP can each mean to outperform or exceed someone or something. BEST needs its verb reading here, though its pairing with WISHES makes a tempting detour into correspondence.
Blue (Things That Come In Threes): CHEERS, STOOGES, STRIKES, WISHES
The shared number is three: three CHEERS, the Three STOOGES, three STRIKES for a baseball strikeout, and the three WISHES granted in familiar genie tales. This group asks you to connect expressions and cultural conventions rather than hunt for synonyms.
Purple (Ending In Actors Named Tom): AUTOCRUISE, FOOLHARDY, MULHOLLAND, THANKS
Each entry ends with the surname of an actor named Tom: AUTOCRUISE contains CRUISE, FOOLHARDY contains HARDY, MULHOLLAND contains HOLLAND, and THANKS contains HANKS. Read THANKS as T plus HANKS to see the neatest disguise in the set.
The Verdict
Green offers the clearest opening through its competitive verbs, with yellow close behind once you settle on the rule-observing sense. The real trap is correspondence: BEST WISHES, REGARDS, CHEERS, and THANKS create a convincing cluster that cuts across the answers.
Blue raises the difficulty by linking several different contexts through one number. Purple is the streak-deciding group here, because spotting the actor surnames requires abandoning the entries' ordinary meanings altogether.
Reset and Repeat
Carry today's THANKS-to-HANKS reveal into tomorrow's grid as a reminder to inspect familiar words letter by letter. Come back tomorrow for another fresh set of connections to untangle.
For now, puzzle #1215 is solved. See you at midnight for the next round.
