NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, October 12

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

Today is an absolutely critical one in my life. It is a day of the utmost import for both myself and millions like me. It may live long in the memory, or quickly fade into the past, like a dissipating fog.

It’s Scotland vs. Belarus in a World Cup qualifier. Wish us luck. We played like shit against Greece (a team that’s on the rise) on Thursday and still somehow won 3-1.

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, October 12 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

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...

• BEINGS

• SWIFT

• DAYS

• RETURNS

• FOREVER

• ENDING

• ROBIN

• TRAILS

• SWALLOW

• PIONEERS

• PERMANENT

• INSTITUTES

• EVERLASTING

• KITE

• LAUNCHES

• ETERNAL

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

• 🟨 Yellow group — this pain wouldn't be for evermore

• 🟩 Green group — it's a goddamn blaze in the dark, and you started it

• 🟦 Blue group — flying in a dream, stars by the pocketful

• 🟪 Purple group — how you might feel when you’re young, as well as free, confused and lonely in the best way

One Word For Each Connections Group

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…

• 🟨 Yellow group — FOREVER

• 🟩 Green group — PIONEERS

• 🟦 Blue group — SWALLOW

• 🟪 Purple group — TRAILS

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Today’s Connections groups are...

• 🟨 Yellow group — for all time

• 🟩 Green group — establishes

• 🟦 Blue group — birds

• 🟪 Purple group — happy _____

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

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...

• 🟨 Yellow group — for all time (ETERNAL, EVERLASTING, FOREVER, PERMANENT)

• 🟩 Green group — establishes (BEGINS, INSTITUTES, LAUNCHES, PIONEERS)

• 🟦 Blue group — birds (KITE, ROBIN, SWALLOW, SWIFT)

• 🟪 Purple group — happy _____ (DAYS, ENDING, RETURNS, TRAILS)

First thoughts here: SWIFT could mean Taylor, a programming language, something quick or a bird. It's a very good word for this game. (I couldn’t resist making the hints all references to Taylor Swift lyrics, even if I did have to look them up.)

Also, Batman movies! BEGINS, RETURNS, FOREVER and ROBIN are all in the titles of Batman films. So that's either a red herring or a group.

Alas, I realized that SWIFT was going to have to be a bird, while FOREVER went with the other "permanent" words. So I got the blues, then the yellows.

The greens were next, but I must take umbrage here. Over the years, I've had it drilled into me by my editors at Engadget that "launches" is not to be used for the beginning of something or a product announcement, just for actual rocket launches and those of other projectiles. I agree, and now it bothers me every single time I see the word used this way (i.e. incorrectly).

Anyway, the purples were default for me today. I should have figured it out, though!

Current streak: 226. Here's my grid for today:

🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪

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. When I first started using Reddit, I mostly saw photos of beautiful things. Nature, structures, art and so on. I don't really see much of that in my feed these days, but perhaps I should set things up so I get more of it.

That's what I thought of when I saw photos of the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice in New York City. It's a late modernist building (meaning it’s just a bit more defined in style than Brutalist structures) that has a lovely atrium with an indoor garden. I do love indoor green spaces that aren't stifling greenhouses:

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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