Daily NYT & LinkedIn puzzle help

NYT Connections hints & answers: Monday, August 10, 2026 (#1236)

Updated: Monday, August 10, 2026 · New puzzle daily at midnight US Eastern Time (5am UK). · Puzzle editor: Wyna Liu.

This page has every level of help for the NYT Connections puzzle #1236 of Monday, August 10, 2026: 3 spoiler-free hint tiers that narrow things down step by step, followed by the complete answers with explanations — each behind its own tap-to-reveal card, so nothing is shown until you choose.

Stuck on today's Connections? Work through the hint tiers below — each one gives away a little more, so you can get exactly as much help as you want and still keep the win.

New to Connections? The four answer groups are colour-coded by difficulty: 🟡 yellow is the easiest, then 🟢 green, 🔵 blue, and 🟣 purple — the trickiest, usually built on wordplay. The hints below use those colours.

1One word from each group▸
  • Yellow (easiest): one of its words is “ANY OLD HOW”.
  • Green (easy): one of its words is “MAIL DELIVERY”.
  • Blue (tricky): one of its words is “BALANCE DUE”.
  • Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay): one of its words is “BILLY GOAT”.
2Category hints (no answers)▸
  • Yellow (easiest): the theme is “Haphazardly”.
  • Green (easy): the theme is “Ways to receive event tickets”.
  • Blue (tricky): the theme is “Sections on an invoice”.
  • Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay): the theme is “Famous goatees”.
3One full group revealed▸
  • Yellow (easiest) — the connection is “Haphazardly”, and its four words are: ANY OLD HOW, AT RANDOM, HELTER-SKELTER, WILLY-NILLY.
★Today's full Connections answers, explained▸
  • Yellow (easiest) — the connection is “Haphazardly”. The words: ANY OLD HOW, AT RANDOM, HELTER-SKELTER, WILLY-NILLY.
  • Green (easy) — the connection is “Ways to receive event tickets”. The words: MAIL DELIVERY, MOBILE TICKET, PRINT-AT-HOME, WILL CALL.
  • Blue (tricky) — the connection is “Sections on an invoice”. The words: BALANCE DUE, BILL TO, ORDER NUMBER, UNIT PRICE.
  • Purple (trickiest, usually wordplay) — the connection is “Famous goatees”. The words: BILLY GOAT, COLONEL SANDERS, DOCTOR STRANGE, THE DEVIL.

Solved it (or spoiled it)? Play Connections on the official site — then come back tomorrow, or try another puzzle below.

Connections — common questions

What time does NYT Connections reset?

A new Connections puzzle is released daily at midnight US Eastern Time — that's 5am in the UK (4am during US daylight-saving transitions) and 12:00am for US East Coast players.

What do the Connections colours mean?

Yellow is the easiest group, then green, then blue, and purple is the trickiest — purple usually involves wordplay such as homophones, hidden words or 'words before/after X'.

How many mistakes are allowed in Connections?

You can make four mistakes before the puzzle ends. If you see 'one away…', exactly three of your four selected words belong together.

Previous Connections puzzles

Full Connections archive (91 puzzles) → · How to play Connections (and win more) →

More of today's puzzles

LinkedIn puzzles