Connections Hints for October 23, 2026
· No. 1,230
One hint per group, yellow to purple. Open only the group you're stuck on — the full solution stays hidden until you tap for it.
Hint 1 · Yellow group
Think of someone who says exactly what she means. No hedging, no beating around the bush.
Hint 2 · Green group
Your computer or web browser asks you to add these. You usually click a button and wait for a progress bar.
Hint 3 · Blue group
Think back to high school physics. Push on something, move it some way, and note how long it takes. These are the pieces of that formula, plus the result itself.
Hint 4 · Purple group
Each word fits in front of the same three-letter word. One is a quick move on a touchscreen, one is a medical test, and one is what a spy might do to your line.
Show today’s answer
- Yellow (Forthright): DIRECT, FRANK, OPEN, VOCAL
- Green (Things you install on a computer): DRIVER, EXTENSION, PLUGIN, UPDATE
- Blue (Quantities in a formula for power): DISTANCE, FORCE, POWER, TIME
- Purple (___ tap): DOUBLE, LOVE, PHONE, SPINAL
The purple group was the sneakiest, since its words have nothing in common until you add tap after each one. Then you get a touchscreen gesture, a playful little hit, a wiretap, and a medical test done on the lower back.
Today’s hints for other games
Connections hints, day by day
How our Connections hints work
Yellow first, purple last
The hints follow the puzzle's own order from easiest to trickiest, so you can stop wherever you are.
A hint names the theme, not the words
It tells you what the four words have in common. Spotting which four is still your job.
The trap gets a warning
When a word looks like it belongs to two groups, the hint for the harder group says so.