NYT Connections Hints & Answers Today: October 26, 2026 (Puzzle #1233)

If today’s New York Times Connections grid has you feeling stuck, you are not alone. Puzzle #1233 brings some clever word groups that might not be obvious right away. Here is what you need to know.

Here are helpful hints to guide you through today’s puzzle, with the full answers listed further down.

Today’s Connections Strategy & Commentary

Today’s puzzle covers casual replies to the question “How are you?”, different types of mats, official American Kennel Club dog‑breed groups, and a tricky modified‑horror‑film‑title category. The Yellow group features everyday informal responses people use when asked how they are doing. Many players will recognize not bad and managing quickly, though chilling and same old can take an extra moment to link together.

The Green category lists mats made for specific uses. Yoga and prayer are familiar to most people, while welcome and wrestling may feel less obvious to casual players. The Blue set includes four of the standard AKC breed classification groups.

The Purple group is the hardest of the four. Each entry comes from a well‑known horror‑movie name with its final letter changed. No original film titles appear exactly as written, so it is easy to overlook the link at first glance.

Connections Hints Today: Category Clues

If you just need a gentle nudge, here are the clues for each color group:

• 🟨 Yellow Group Hint: Casual spoken replies when someone asks how you are doing.
• 🟩 Green Group Hint: Flat padded surfaces made for a particular activity or purpose.
• 🟦 Blue Group Hint: Official American Kennel Club main categories for dog breeds.
• 🟪 Purple Group Hint: Horror‑movie names with only their very last letter altered.

Here is our result for today’s puzzle:

🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟪🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟦🟪🟪
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: The full answers are below. Stop scrolling now if you want to solve it yourself first.

NYT Connections Answers Today for October 26, 2026 (Puzzle #1233)

🟨 Yellow Category: Responses To “How Are You?”

• Chilling
• Managing
• Not Bad
• Same Old

🟩 Green Category: Kinds Of Mats

• Prayer
• Welcome
• Wrestling
• Yoga

🟦 Blue Category: AKC Dog Breed Groups

• Herding
• Hound
• Sporting
• Toy

🟪 Purple Category: Horror Movies With Last Letter Changed

• Halloweek
• Hosted
• Jawn
• Psychs

Yesterday’s Answer

This is the NYT Connections answer for October 25, 2026 (Puzzle #1232).

🟨 Yellow Category: Steal. (Boost, Palm, Pocket, Swipe)
🟩 Green Category: Pasta Shapes. (Bow Tie, Elbow, Shell, Wagon Wheel)
🟦 Blue Category: Fictional Toms. (Ripley, Sawyer, Swift, Thumb)
🟪 Purple Category: Things That Can Be Snapped. (Fingers, Football, Glow Stick, Rubber Band)

For older solutions, see our Connections answers archive.

How did you do today?

Did you quickly pick out the dog‑group or casual‑reply set, or did the modified‑horror‑title group slow you down? Share your results in the comments.

A new puzzle becomes available every midnight based on your local time zone. It appears at different times around the world including United States UTC‑4 to UTC‑8, Philippine Standard Time UTC+8, Australia UTC+8 to UTC+11, and New Zealand UTC+12 or UTC+13.

Check back tomorrow for more Connections hints, strategy tips, and the next answer.