This guide covers NYT Connections #1217 for October 10, 2026. Open a clue below when you need a nudge.
Check each proposed quartet against one precise relationship before committing. A promising pair is only a starting point.
Open the hints at your own pace. Stop when you have enough help, or reveal the answer panels when you are ready for the full explanations.
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Connections hints (no spoilers)
Yellow
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Useful preparations for an academic assignment.
Green
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Reach a tentative conclusion without full proof.
Blue
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Places to look inside a networking app.
Purple
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All four can precede the same six-letter ending.
Connections answers — October 10, 2026
Yellow Useful preparations for an academic assignment. Reveal group Hide group
USEFUL WHEN WRITING A PAPER
- DRAFT
- NOTES
- OUTLINE
- THESIS
These are useful components or working materials when composing a paper. They need not all be finished documents: the relationship includes preparatory material and the central argument as well as an early version.
Read this group’s word explanationsGreen Reach a tentative conclusion without full proof. Reveal group Hide group
PRESUME
- FIGURE
- GATHER
- IMAGINE
- SUPPOSE
These verbs can mean to assume or infer something. The relevant readings are conversational constructions such as figuring that something is true, not every tile's more concrete or visual meaning.
Read this group’s word explanationsBlue Places to look inside a networking app. Reveal group Hide group
SOCIAL MEDIA SECTIONS
- FEED
- MESSAGES
- NOTIFICATIONS
- PROFILE
These names are commonly used for sections of social media services. They refer to a stream of content, private conversations, alerts, and an account page; a particular platform's exact labels may differ.
Read this group’s word explanationsPurple All four can precede the same six-letter ending. Reveal group Hide group
___BOXING
- BEAT
- KICK
- SHADOW
- UN
Add BOXING after each tile: beatboxing, kickboxing, shadowboxing, and unboxing. The resulting words do not all describe combat; the shared spelling operation is the connection.
Read this group’s word explanationsWhy these words fit
Read explanations
Full spoilers below: a closer look at every group and the wordplay behind it.
Yellow
USEFUL WHEN WRITING A PAPER
These are useful components or working materials when composing a paper. They need not all be finished documents: the relationship includes preparatory material and the central argument as well as an early version.
- DRAFT
-
A DRAFT is an initial version of a paper that can be revised. The writing sense fits here, rather than an air current or a player-selection process.
- NOTES
-
NOTES record ideas, facts, or references that can support a paper. They are working material for the writer, not necessarily the final prose.
- OUTLINE
-
An OUTLINE organizes a paper into its proposed parts or main points. It helps arrange the argument before the full text is written.
- THESIS
-
A THESIS can be the central claim a paper argues. That writing sense connects it to preparation and structure, without requiring a graduate dissertation.
Green
PRESUME
These verbs can mean to assume or infer something. The relevant readings are conversational constructions such as figuring that something is true, not every tile's more concrete or visual meaning.
- FIGURE
-
To FIGURE that something is true is to think or assume it is so. This verbal reading matters here rather than a number, a diagram, or a person's shape.
- GATHER
-
To GATHER something from what you have heard is to infer or understand it. The group uses that conclusion-drawing sense rather than collecting objects.
- IMAGINE
-
To IMAGINE something is the case can mean to suppose or assume it. Here the word concerns a tentative belief, rather than creating a fantasy scene.
- SUPPOSE
-
To SUPPOSE something is to assume it or consider it likely. It supplies the same tentative-conclusion sense as the other three verbs.
Blue
SOCIAL MEDIA SECTIONS
These names are commonly used for sections of social media services. They refer to a stream of content, private conversations, alerts, and an account page; a particular platform's exact labels may differ.
- FEED
-
A FEED is the stream of posts or other content displayed by a social platform. This is the app-section sense rather than food or the act of feeding.
- MESSAGES
-
MESSAGES is a section for conversations or communications within a social service. Its role here is a familiar interface destination.
- NOTIFICATIONS
-
NOTIFICATIONS is the section collecting alerts about activity relevant to an account. It belongs with other named areas of a social app.
- PROFILE
-
A PROFILE is an account's page presenting information and activity about its user. It fits the interface grouping rather than a side view of a face.
Purple
___BOXING
Add BOXING after each tile: beatboxing, kickboxing, shadowboxing, and unboxing. The resulting words do not all describe combat; the shared spelling operation is the connection.
- BEAT
-
BEAT plus BOXING gives BEATBOXING, making percussion-like sounds with the voice. The resulting word supplies a musical use of the shared ending.
- KICK
-
KICK plus BOXING gives KICKBOXING, a combat sport combining punching and kicking. The full word is formed by attaching the same ending.
- SHADOW
-
SHADOW plus BOXING gives SHADOWBOXING, practicing boxing movements without a physical opponent. It uses the same construction as the other tiles.
- UN
-
UN plus BOXING gives UNBOXING, taking a product out of its packaging. The short tile works as a prefix here rather than the United Nations abbreviation.
How difficult is this puzzle?
Our editorial assessment is that the shortest purple tile creates the sharpest trap. Once you test how fragments attach to a shared ending, the more conventional groups become easier to separate. This is a reading of the board, not a measured player solve rate.
More Connections answers
Frequently asked questions
What does UN do in the purple group?
UN joins BOXING to make UNBOXING. It is a spelling fragment in this group, rather than an abbreviation referring to an international organization.
Does every purple answer describe a combat sport?
No. BEATBOXING concerns vocal percussion, and UNBOXING concerns opening packaging. The relationship is the shared ending, not a sporting definition.
Why does GATHER belong with FIGURE and SUPPOSE?
GATHER can mean infer or understand from available information. That reading matches the tentative-belief sense used by FIGURE, IMAGINE, and SUPPOSE.
What sense of THESIS is useful for the yellow answer?
THESIS can mean the central claim developed in an academic paper. It belongs with writing materials and structure without requiring the specialized meaning of a degree dissertation.
Sources & further reading
Sources & further reading
- The New York Times — Connections
- Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary: unboxing
- Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary: beatboxing