Yesterday · Puzzle #1,338
Yesterday Connections Answer
Sat, Oct 24, 2026Updated By Connections Hint Today
Spoiler-safe. Nothing opens on its own. Each group has its own ladder — take one rung at a time and stop when you have enough.
The grid
sixteen words, ungroupedBACONCOMICFILMMÖBIUSHOBBY HORSEPINWHEELPOPSICLESPARKLERBANNERINTERSTITIALOVERLAYPOP-UPCANDYSALADSPACESPORTS
Reveal ladder
open only what you needYellow groupeasiest
1Shape of the four words
Letter counts run 4 · 5 · 5 · 6. No two start with the same letter.
2Shape of the category name
The category names a kind of thing — the four answers are all examples of one class. This is the yellow group, so trust the most literal reading you have.
3The category name
KINDS OF STRIPS
4The 4 words
BACON · COMIC · FILM · MÖBIUS
Green groupmedium
1Shape of the four words
Letter counts run 8 · 8 · 8 · 10. Two of them start with the same letter. Exactly one entry is more than one word.
2Shape of the category name
The category name is three words long. This is the green group: still literal, but one answer usually has a second meaning.
3The category name
THINGS ON STICKS
4The 4 words
HOBBY HORSE · PINWHEEL · POPSICLE · SPARKLER
Blue grouptricky
1Shape of the four words
Letter counts run 5 · 6 · 7 · 12. No two start with the same letter. Exactly one entry is more than one word.
2Shape of the category name
The category name is three words long. This is the blue group, where the link is a shade narrower than it first looks.
3The category name
ONLINE AD FORMATS
4The 4 words
BANNER · INTERSTITIAL · OVERLAY · POP-UP
Purple grouphardest
1Shape of the four words
Letter counts run 5 · 5 · 5 · 6. Three of them start with the same letter.
2Shape of the category name
The category is a fill-in-the-blank with the blank at the FRONT, so one shared word FOLLOWS each answer. This is the purple group, so expect wordplay rather than a category of things.
3The category name
___ BAR
4The 4 words
CANDY · SALAD · SPACE · SPORTS
The four categories
all four names at onceReveal the four category names
- KINDS OF STRIPSYellow
- THINGS ON STICKSGreen
- ONLINE AD FORMATSBlue
- ___ BARPurple
The full answer
Reveal all four groups
KINDS OF STRIPSYellow
BACON · COMIC · FILM · MÖBIUS
THINGS ON STICKSGreen
HOBBY HORSE · PINWHEEL · POPSICLE · SPARKLER
ONLINE AD FORMATSBlue
BANNER · INTERSTITIAL · OVERLAY · POP-UP
___ BARPurple
CANDY · SALAD · SPACE · SPORTS
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Background & guide
Yesterday's Connections, explained
Here are the four groups from yesterday's Connections, sorted from the easiest yellow group to the trickiest purple. If you came close but missed by one, it was probably the purple category — that's where the New York Times usually hides the wordplay and the misdirection.
Playing today instead? Head to today's hints, where nothing is grouped until you open it. Older puzzles live in the answer archive, grouped by year.
FAQ
How is yesterday's answer laid out?
Open the reveal to see each of the four groups with its category name and four words, sorted from the easy yellow group to the tricky purple one.
Why is purple usually the hardest group?
Purple is where Connections hides the wordplay — puns, hidden words or a shared pattern rather than a plain theme — so it's the group most players leave for last.
How do the colours rank the groups?
Yellow is the easiest, then green, then blue, and purple is usually the trickiest. The colours are the puzzle's own difficulty order.