How is it that another week is drawing to a close so quickly? We’re approaching the equinox, it feels like summer is on the horizon, and every day, another NYT Connections puzzle rises for us to dominate. That’s the theme of today, as you prepare to scroll down and pick up the best NYT Connections hints and tips in the business.
Read on to accomplish what you need today and get your day started the right way.
How to Play NYT Connections
In June 2023, NYT Connections emerged as yet another game in the ever-growing lineup of the New York Times titles. This title soared immediately, and it’s easy to see why. As a free-to-play, accessible New York Times game, NYT Connections is available worldwide and can be played on desktop devices or in a mobile app.
But how do you play NYT Connections?

The NYT team will provide you with a grid of 16 words once a day. The only task left up to you is to sort those words into four groups of four by finding their commonalities. Every NYT Connections puzzle has just one solution, and some words can have double meanings, so it can sometimes be tricky to figure out the answers.
It’s also important to stress that the words are color-coded: yellow, blue, green, and purple. That’s in order of difficulty, from least to most.
What’s critical here is that you get four guesses every day, and if you use those, your NYT Connections answers for today will be out of reach, as it’ll be game over.
Today’s NYT Connections Hints (March 12)
Here are the words from today’s NYT Connections puzzle:
- CUCKOO CLOCK
- SWING
- STEP
- SANDBOX
- HOURGLASS
- MEXICAN FLAG
- METRONOME
- WEATHER VANE
- WINDSHIELD WIPER
- BUNKER
- SPIN
- PENDULUM
- DESERT
- REFORMER
- FROOT LOOPS
- BARRE
And here are the hints I can offer for today’s NYT Connections:
- Yellow – Places or things within which you might find a bit of sand
- Green – Things that have a consistent movement pattern
- Blue – Exercise classes that typically involve a piece of equipment
- Purple – Words that you might associate with a type of bird
Here’s the final warning before we get to the NYT Connections answers for today, March 12:
Are you sure you want to scroll further?
Very well!
NYT Connections Answers Explained for Today, March 12 (#1005)
If you want to jump straight to the answers for today’s NYT Connections puzzle, I’ve got you covered:
- Yellow – BUNKER, DESERT, HOURGLASS, SANDBOX
- Green – METRONOME, PENDULUM, SWING, WINDSHIELD WIPER
- Blue – BARRE, REFORMER, SPIN, STEP
- Purple – CUCKOO CLOCK, FROOT LOOPS, MEXICAN FLAG, WEATHER VANE
When Does NYT Connections Reset?
That’s today’s puzzle, but if you want the next one, the game resets daily at midnight local time (that’s your local time). You’ll have 24 hours to complete the puzzle when midnight ticks over in your timezone.
How did you do? Did you get a perfect run? Let me know what your streak looks like on the Insider Gaming Discord server



