NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for February 15, 2026

Mashable
February 15, 2026
AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary
The New York Times Connections puzzle continues to captivate audiences with its unique challenge of grouping words based on shared themes. Designed by associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu, this daily word game presents players with 16 words divided into four color-coded categories—yellow, green, blue, and purple—each representing distinct themes like reference books or ways to reach someone via phone. Unlike traditional games, Connections requires identifying common threads between sets of words, making it a stimulating mental exercise for tech-savvy readers. The game resets daily at midnight, with each puzzle progressively becoming more challenging. For today’s puzzle, the categories include reference books (e.g., atlas, dictionary), remnants from memories (e.g., echo, reminder), types of complexes (e.g., oedipus, inferiority), and methods to contact someone via phone (e.g., buzzard, ringmaster). Players must correctly group these words to advance, with only four chances to make mistakes before the game ends. The ability to rearrange and shuffle the board adds a layer of strategy, encouraging creative thinking. Each correct group removes the words from play, while incorrect guesses lead to game over. This puzzle taps into the growing trend of interactive word games like Wordle, leveraging social media sharing to enhance its popularity. Connections offers a fresh challenge by focusing on thematic connections rather than
Verticals
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Originally published on Mashable on 2/15/2026