NYT Connections Answers (February 13): Puzzle #977 Too Hard For You? Check Hints, & Solution

NYT Connections February 13 puzzle mixes team markers, cigarette brands, and sound-alike words. See hints and the full answers here.

NYT Connections resets every day and has a loyal group of fans who love spotting patterns and testing their thinking skills.

Source : Screenshot/New York Times

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Key points generated by AI, verified by newsroom

• NYT Connections puzzle on Feb 13 featured 16 words grouped into four categories.
• The game challenges players to find four related words, with tricky links.
• Groups included synonyms for thorough, team markers, cigarette brands, and homophones.

NYT Connections Answers: The New York Times daily word game, Connections, brought a fresh puzzle for February 13, and today’s board was full of tricky links and sound-alike traps. Players once again had to sort 16 words into four hidden groups. It may look easy when you first see the grid, but the game loves to confuse you with words that seem related but are not. 

That’s what makes Connections fun and a bit frustrating, too. If today’s set slowed you down, don’t worry. Here’s a simple, clear guide with all the hints and the final answers.

What Is Connections & How Do You Play?

Connections is a daily word puzzle where you see 16 words on the screen. Your goal is to place them into four groups of four based on a shared idea. Each word fits into only one group. The hard part is that many words look like they could belong together, but only one combo is correct.

For instance, “Hook,” “Nana,” “Peter,” and “Wendy” are all Peter Pan characters. Or to take another example, “Action,” “Ballpark,” “Go,” and “Stick” are all words which commonly come just before the word “Figure”.

You must study the words and test your idea by picking four at a time. If the set is right, it locks in. If not, it counts as a mistake. You can only make four mistakes. On your fourth mistake, the game ends and shows the answers.

Each group also has a colour level to show difficulty:

• Yellow (easiest)
• Green (easy)
• Blue (medium)
• Purple (hardest)

Some days are smooth. Some days are sneaky. That’s the charm of the game.

Hints & Full Solution To NYT Connections (February 13)

Here are today’s official hints:

• Yellow: They're similar to "thorough".
• Green: They mark a team.
• Blue: Can you smoke it?
• Purple: Sounds like... shrinking?

Extra hints:

• Every theme contains a word starting with “S”.
• Every theme contains a four-letter word.

One word from each group:

• Yellow: Stark
• Green: Banner
• Blue: Camel
• Purple: Wayne

Today’s Connections groups:

• Yellow: Downright
• Green: Pennant
• Blue: Cigarette Brands
• Purple: Homophones Of Ways To Get Smaller

Full Solution for February 12:

• Yellow (Downright): Pure, Sheer, Stark, Utter
• Green (Pennant): Banner, Colours, Flag, Standard
• Blue (Cigarette Brands): Camel, Kent, Parliament, Salem
• Purple (Homophones Of Ways To Get Smaller): Lesson, Reseed, Sync, Wayne

Today’s puzzle had a nice mix. The team markers group was easy to spot once you saw Banner and Flag together. The cigarette brand set was also clear for many players. 

The hardest part for most people was the sound-alike group, where words sounded like ways to get smaller. That twist made this puzzle extra clever.

NYT Connections Answers (February 12): Puzzle #976 Confused You? Check Hints, & Solution

NYT Connections Answers (February 11): Puzzle #975 Left You Puzzled? Check Hints, & Solution