- NYT Connections puzzle #1209 features categories based on finance, fingers, customary terms, and “Prime ___.”
- The 16-word puzzle allows players up to four mistakes while they identify four groups of related words.
- The answers include BACK, BANKROLL, FUND, SUPPORT and NUMBER, REAL ESTATE, RIB, TIM.
NYT Connections hints for today
Today’s New York Times Connections puzzle may be manageable for players familiar with money-related terms, but the 16-word grid still includes several overlapping possibilities. The objective is to find four groups of four words that share a common connection.
Connections has become one of The New York Times’ most popular daily word games, attracting a broad social media following. The game challenges players to identify the “common threads between words.” Like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight, with a new puzzle available each day.
Connections category hints
Players looking for clues without revealing the categories can use these hints:
- Yellow: Money
- Green: Digits
- Blue: Usual
- Purple: Superior
The categories become more specific once the puzzle is solved:
- Yellow: Finance
- Green: Fingers
- Blue: Customary
- Purple: Prime ___
How to play NYT Connections
Connections is available through web browsers and on mobile devices. Each daily puzzle presents 16 words that must be divided into four categories, with every group containing four related entries. The categories can involve subjects such as book titles, software, or country names, among many other possibilities.
The challenge is that multiple words may initially appear to belong in the same group, but only one arrangement is correct. When players identify all four words in a category, those entries are removed from the board. An incorrect guess counts as a mistake, and the game ends after four mistakes.
Players can shuffle and rearrange the board to make potential links easier to spot. The categories are color-coded by difficulty: yellow is the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Once finished, players can share their results on social media without revealing the answers.
Today’s Connections answers
The solution to NYT Connections puzzle #1209 is:
- Finance: BACK, BANKROLL, FUND, SUPPORT
- Fingers: INDEX, LITTLE, MIDDLE, RING
- Customary: COMMON, ROUTINE, STANDARD, STOCK
- Prime ___: NUMBER, REAL ESTATE, RIB, TIM
Why This Matters
Connections has helped expand The New York Times’ daily games lineup beyond traditional crosswords. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping create the game and bring it to the publication’s Games section.
The game’s combination of wordplay, limited guesses, color-coded difficulty levels, and social sharing has made it a recurring daily activity for players on both mobile devices and web browsers. Its changing categories also mean that familiar words can take on different roles from one puzzle to the next.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the answer to today’s NYT Connections puzzle?
The four categories are Finance, Fingers, Customary, and Prime ___. The answers are BACK, BANKROLL, FUND, SUPPORT; INDEX, LITTLE, MIDDLE, RING; COMMON, ROUTINE, STANDARD, STOCK; and NUMBER, REAL ESTATE, RIB, TIM.
How many mistakes can players make in Connections?
Players can make up to four mistakes before the puzzle ends.
How many words are in each Connections puzzle?
Each puzzle contains 16 words divided into four groups of four.
