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NYT Connections puzzle #1222, released Thursday, October 15, 2026, divides its 16 words into four groups: food-preservation methods, sports scoring terms, lowest or supporting parts, and low landforms represented by one-letter changes. The complete answers are below, with spoiler-safe hints first.
Spoiler-safe hints for Connections #1222
Use these clues if you want to finish the grid without seeing the words grouped immediately:
- Yellow: Methods used to preserve food.
- Green: Things a player or team can score in sports.
- Blue: Words describing the lowest or supporting part of something.
- Purple: Low landforms whose names become the tile words after one letter changes.
The yellow and green groups are the most direct. Blue relies on related meanings, while purple is the wordplay-heavy category and is likely to cause the final mistake.
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NYT Connections answers for Thursday, October 15
Here is the solved grid for game #1222:
| Color | Category | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Ways to preserve food | CURE, DRY, PICKLE, SMOKE |
| Green | Things you can score in sports | BASKET, GOAL, RUN, TOUCHDOWN |
| Blue | Lowest part | BASE, BOTTOM, FOOT, FOUNDATION |
| Purple | Low landforms with a letter changed | CANNON, FORGE, RACINE, VOLLEY |
Yellow: Ways to preserve food
CURE, DRY, PICKLE and SMOKE all describe food-preservation techniques. Curing uses salt, sugar or related treatments; drying removes moisture; pickling preserves food in an acidic or brined solution; and smoking exposes food to smoke, often alongside drying or curing.
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Green: Things you can score in sports
BASKET, GOAL, RUN and TOUCHDOWN are all scoring results or scoring units in sports. A basket is scored in basketball, a goal in sports such as soccer and hockey, a run in baseball, and a touchdown in American football. The different sports represented here make the category broader than a single game’s terminology.
Blue: Lowest part
BASE, BOTTOM, FOOT and FOUNDATION can each mean the lowest, supporting or ground-level part of something. A building has a foundation, an object may rest on a base, the bottom is its lowest surface, and the foot can mean the lower end or supporting part.
Purple: Low landforms with one letter changed
The purple words are not direct names for landforms. Each becomes a familiar low-landform word when one letter is changed:
| Tile | Landform after one letter changes |
|---|---|
| CANNON | CANYON |
| FORGE | GORGE |
| RACINE | RAVINE |
| VOLLEY | VALLEY |
CANNON changes to CANYON, FORGE to GORGE, RACINE to RAVINE, and VOLLEY to VALLEY. Because the tile words themselves fit other possible associations, this letter substitution is the key to recognizing the purple group.
Why the purple group is the puzzle’s main trap
The first three categories can be reached through ordinary meanings: preservation, scoring and low points. Purple requires an additional operation—compare each tile with a landform name and identify a single-letter difference. That makes the words look intentionally close to a category without belonging to it literally.
When solving, set aside any word that appears to fit multiple groups and test whether it can transform into a geographic feature. In this grid, the four transformations are exact one-letter changes, not pronunciations, anagrams or multi-letter edits.
How to play the puzzle
- Open the daily Connections board in NYT Games.
- Select four words that share a category and submit the group.
- Continue until all 16 tiles are assigned to four groups.
- Use the hints above if you are stuck, then check the answer table to identify any missed connection.
Connections permits mistakes during solving, so finding a strong three-word pattern first can be useful even when the fourth word appears ambiguous. For this board, identifying the four food-preservation words or the four sports terms gives a reliable starting point before tackling the synonym-based and letter-change groups.
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Sources for the published solution
Both TechRadar’s October 15 coverage and Fortnite Insider’s game #1222 report publish the same 16-word grid and four categories.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the purple group in NYT Connections #1222?
The purple group is low landforms with one letter changed: CANNON/CANYON, FORGE/GORGE, RACINE/RAVINE and VOLLEY/VALLEY.
What are the yellow answers in Connections today?
CURE, DRY, PICKLE and SMOKE, all methods of preserving food.
What are the green answers in Connections today?
BASKET, GOAL, RUN and TOUCHDOWN, all things that can be scored in sports.
What are the blue answers in Connections today?
BASE, BOTTOM, FOOT and FOUNDATION, words for a lowest or supporting part.
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