Connections Hints
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Words from the NYT Connections puzzle — October 21, 2026
All 16 words, sorted alphabetically. Group them into four categories of four.
The four category names, easiest to hardest. No words revealed yet.
Theme name plus one word from each category.
Duck Duck Goose, Hot Potato, Leapfrog, and Musical Chairs are all classic children's party and playground games
Alpha Dog, Big Cheese, Heavyweight, and Top Banana are all informal expressions meaning an important or dominant person
American Gothic, Campbell's Soup Can, Sunflowers, and The Scream are all world-famous paintings by Grant Wood, Andy Warhol, Van Gogh, and Edvard Munch respectively
English Horn (French origin, not a horn), Grape-Nuts (no grapes, no nuts), Mantis Shrimp (not a mantis or a shrimp), and Sweetbread (not sweet, not bread) are all double misnomers where neither word accurately describes the thing