NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, October 19 (game #1226)

Looking for a different day? A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'.

If you're looking for Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, October 18 (game #1225) .

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories.

It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course.

I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1226) - today's words (Image credit: New York Times) Today's NYT Connections words are… MOHAWK MUFFIN HOT AIR BALLOON RAVE WIND FLURRY STEAM GAS RIB FUME ALIBIS BOIL BLATHER ESCROW NUGGETS NYT Connections today (game #1226) - hint #1 - group hints What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups? YELLOW: Really angry GREEN: Mouthing off BLUE: Available at Burger King’s rival PURPLE: Avian finale Need more clues? We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles… NYT Connections today (game #1226) - hint #2 - group answers What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups? YELLOW: SEETHE GREEN: ALL TALK BLUE: "MC" THINGS AT MCDONALD'S PURPLE: ENDING IN BIRDS Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1226) - the answers (Image credit: New York Times) The answers to today's Connections, game #1226, are… YELLOW: SEETHE: BOIL, FUME, RAVE, STEAM GREEN: ALL TALK: BLATHER, GAS, HOT AIR, WIND BLUE: "MC" THINGS AT MCDONALD'S: FLURRY, MUFFIN, NUGGETS, RIB PURPLE: ENDING IN BIRDS: ALIBIS, BALLOON, ESCROW, MOHAWK My rating: Hard My score: 1 mistake I took a very circuitous route to getting my first group today.

Thinking that BALLOON were a clue I connected STEAM, HOT AIR, GAS, and WIND, reasoning these were all things that, erm, made a balloon move? The 'One away' pop-up helped me look again and I realized that with the addition of BLATHER we had a quartet of words describing folks who are, as my Grandad used to say, all mouth and no trousers.

From here "MC" THINGS AT MCDONALD'S was easier to spot — although it did remind me that I have never had a McRIB, a delicacy that has only appeared on UK menus a couple of times since the 1980s.