TodayHint

Connections October 1, 2026: Hints & Answers (#1314)

edited by Wyna Liu.

Recap

On October 1, 2026, solvers connected terms related to placement, dress shirt measurements, 2000s indie rock bands, and starts of NYT print puzzles.

The sixteen tiles

The sixteen tiles as dealt. Reveal a group below to tint and caption its tiles here.

NATIONALKENNECKSHINSACROSTICKWAISTWALKMENSITUATESLEEVECROSSPLACESUDPOSITIONCHESTDECEMBERISTS

Connections hints, one rung at a time

Six rungs, softest first. The recap above already named the groups, so this ladder is here for anyone replaying the board fresh rather than as a spoiler shield.

  1. Four one-line nudges, one per group

    The softest hint there is.

    Yellow
    Location terms
    Green
    Clothing specifics
    Blue
    Music groups
    Purple
    Puzzle beginnings
  2. What linked each group, described

    Still no titles and no tiles named.

    Yellow group

    Verbs meaning to set something in a particular location or context

    Green group

    Aspects of a garment that are measured for a good fit

    Blue group

    Bands from the 2000s indie rock scene with a specific article in their name

    Purple group

    Abbreviations or short forms that start certain types of puzzles

  3. Board facts

    Counted off the sixteen printed tiles.

    Sixteen tiles, four groups of four, ordered yellow → green → blue → purple from most to least obvious. Every tile was a single word.

    Tiles
    16 across 4 groups
    Longest tile
    12 characters
    Shortest tile
    3 characters
    Multi-word tiles
    0
    Back to the sixteen tiles
  4. The trap on this board

    Which tiles pulled in two directions.

    Some cards could fit into multiple categories at first glance, especially CHEST, NECK, SLEEVE, and WAIST, which might seem related to other concepts, or ACRO, CROSS, KEN, and SUD, which could be confused with other puzzle types.

  5. The four category titles

    Half the answer.

    Yellow
    PUT
    Green
    DRESS SHIRT MEASUREMENTS
    Blue
    2000S INDIE ROCK BANDS, WITH "THE"
    Purple
    STARTS OF NYT PRINT PUZZLES
  6. One tile from each group

    The anchor most people misplaced, matched to its title.

    Yellow — PUT
    STICK
    Green — DRESS SHIRT MEASUREMENTS
    WAIST
    Blue — 2000S INDIE ROCK BANDS, WITH "THE"
    WALKMEN
    Purple — STARTS OF NYT PRINT PUZZLES
    KEN
    Open the full groupings

Every Connections group from that board

All four groups, folded. Opening one tints its four tiles above and captions them with the category name.

  • Yellow group · 4 tiles

    PUT

    PLACE, POSITION, SITUATE, STICK. The yellow group, 'PUT', includes PLACE, POSITION, SITUATE, and STICK.

  • Green group · 4 tiles

    DRESS SHIRT MEASUREMENTS

    CHEST, NECK, SLEEVE, WAIST. The green group, 'DRESS SHIRT MEASUREMENTS', consists of CHEST, NECK, SLEEVE, and WAIST.

  • Blue group · 4 tiles

    2000S INDIE ROCK BANDS, WITH "THE"

    DECEMBERISTS, NATIONAL, SHINS, WALKMEN. The blue group, '2000S INDIE ROCK BANDS, WITH "THE"', comprises DECEMBERISTS, NATIONAL, SHINS, and WALKMEN.

  • Purple group · 4 tiles

    STARTS OF NYT PRINT PUZZLES

    ACRO, CROSS, KEN, SUD. The purple group, 'STARTS OF NYT PRINT PUZZLES', features ACRO, CROSS, KEN, and SUD.

This board by the numbers

Puzzle
(#1314) · Thursday, October 1, 2026
Tiles
16 in a 4 × 4 grid
Groups
4, yellow to purple
Multi-word tiles
0
Longest tile
DECEMBERISTS
Mistakes allowed
4 before the board locked

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