Today's Connections has four hidden groups of four. Start with a gentle nudge and only open more if you need it.
Hint 1: One word from each group
Each of these words belongs to a different group.
- Yellow (easiest): ALERT
- Green: PRINT
- Blue: FIDDLER
- Purple (hardest): BOHÈME
Hint 2: A nudge for each group
A gentle push toward each theme, easiest to hardest.
- Tiny sounds that interrupt your day.
- What you might preserve after the perfect moment.
- Shoreline shell-dwellers come in a few familiar varieties.
- A little French opener waiting for a well-known finish.
Hint 3: Yellow (easiest) group theme
The yellow group is Digital Notifications.
Hint 4: Green group theme
The green group is Photo.
Hint 5: Blue group theme
The blue group is Kinds Of Crabs.
Hint 6: Purple (hardest) group theme
The purple group is La ___.
Show all four answers
Digital Notifications
ALERT, CHIME, DING, PING
Photo
PRINT, SHOT, SNAP, STILL
Kinds Of Crabs
FIDDLER, HERMIT, KING, SNOW
La ___
BOHÈME, BREA, PAZ, SCALA
About this puzzle
- Edited by Wyna Liu
- Groups are listed from easiest (yellow) to hardest (purple).
Connections deep dive
More about today's puzzle. Everything in this section can include the answer.
Why each word belongs in its group, with a short dictionary meaning where one exists.
Yellow (easiest): Digital Notifications
- ALERT: Attentive; awake; on guard.
- CHIME: (music) A musical instrument producing a sound when struck, similar to a bell (e.g. a tubular metal bar) or actually ...
- DING: (informal) Very minor damage caused by being struck; a small dent or chip.
- PING: (networking) A packet which a remote host is expected to echo, thus indicating its presence.
Green: Photo
- PRINT: Of, relating to, or writing for printed publications.
- SHOT: Tired, weary.
- SNAP: A quick breaking or cracking sound or the action of producing such a sound.
- STILL: Not moving; calm.
Blue: Kinds Of Crabs
- FIDDLER: One who plays the fiddle.
- HERMIT: A recluse; someone who lives alone and shuns human companionship.
- KING: A male monarch; a man who heads a monarchy; in an absolute monarchy, the supreme ruler of his nation.
- SNOW: (uncountable) The partly frozen, crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes...
Purple (hardest): La ___
- BOHÈME
- BREA: A city in Orange County, California, United States.
- PAZ: A river in El Salvador.
- SCALA: Ladder; sequence.
Play today's Connections at The New York Times
More hints for October 17, 2026
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