(Y’know, because his name was just a SYMBOL for a while.)

Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend so far.

The other day, I woke up at 7AM. This is highly unusual for me, especially because I was very quickly wide awake. Rather than spending, like, 110 minutes looking at junk on my phone before getting up and preparing to start work, I only did that for 15 minutes. Then I got up and jumped onto my rowing machine. I got in a little workout while watching some TV before starting my work day.

While this was very rare for me, I’d like for it to be more of a common occurrence. I have a lot of weight to lose to get to the size I want to be. That’s not gonna happen if I keep sticking to the largely sedentary lifestyle I’ve had for a very long time.

To that end, I appreciate the concept of the 1% rule. The idea that we should aim to get 1% better at something every day, rather than making massive life changes all at once. That early-morning (for me) workout was a good first step. Now I just would like to make sure the next one is 1% better.

Before we begin, we have a great little community on Discord, where we chat about NYT Connections, the rest of the NYT games and all kinds of other stuff. Everyone who has joined has been lovely. It’s a fun hangout spot, and you’re more than welcome to join us.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, February 8 are coming right up.

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

And the level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

Need some extra help? 

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

Today’s Connections groups are...

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

I had a couple of initial thoughts here. We could have had two-BIT and two-FACED aligned with each other, but I didn't immediately see anything else that worked with those. GAG, BIT, ROUTINE and NUMBER made sense together too, but that felt like a red herring since we had a similar group fairly recently.

Instead, I felt that GAG would go with SILENCE, MUZZLE and INHIBIT. That got me the yellows.

It was only at that point I realized that "two CENTS" (as in one's opinion) is a common phrase. As is two TIMER (as in one who cheats on a romantic partner). So I had the purples.

From there, I spotted what had to be the greens. I didn't quite figure out what the blues were referring to, but I submitted them first.

I enjoyed that one. A perfect game means my streak is now at 344 wins.

How did you get on today? Here's my grid:

🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. I’ll be back over at Forbes for the Monday-Friday editions for the column. And if you haven’t subscribed to Pastimes already, definitely do that! It would be super sweet of you.

P.S. This is where I'd usually offer up a laid-back song recommendation on a Sunday, but I'm doing something different today. The blues inspired me to go in another direction.

I highly, highly suggest that everyone should have a password manager. It's too easy to use the same email and password combination for different accounts. If one of those gets breached, you could be facing a world of trouble — especially if someone gets into your email, banking or social media accounts.

I personally use 1Password. That's a paid subscription, which I'm fortunate enough to be able to write off as a business expense. However, there are free options available. If you use only use Apple devices, for instance, there's a built-in password manager that's super easy to use.

I know a lot of people hear the term "password manager" and get really intimidated by them. But most I've tried are a cinch and much easier to deal with than having to remember passwords.

My colleagues at Engadget have put together a great password manager guide that I'd encourage you to check out:

Also, be sure to enable two-factor authentication on as many services as you can. If possible, have codes sent to you by email or use an authenticator app instead of having them sent to you by text message. 2FA is a mild inconvenience, but it helps make your online accounts more secure.

Passkeys are a good option as well. Engadget has a piece (from a couple of years ago, but still relevant) that explains those too:

(I promise this isn't explicitly a promo for Engadget. That said, if you're gonna read about this stuff, I'd prefer you do it on the other main site I work at. My colleagues there do great work!)

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

On weekdays, you can find this column over at Forbes. Please follow my blog there for more coverage of NYT Connections and other word games, and even some video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me out a lot!

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