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Today's NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Feb. 13, #978

Here are some hints and the answers for The New York Times Connections puzzle for Feb. 13 #978.

Headshot of Gael Cooper
Headshot of Gael Cooper
Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, and generational studies Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Gael Cooper
2 min read
Connections games

Read on for today's Connections answers.

 James Martin/CNET

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today's NYT Connections puzzle has a diverse mix of topics. Read on for clues and today's Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints and Strategies to Help You Win at Connections Every Time

Hints for today's Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: For sure.

Green group hint: Wave it or put it on the wall.

Blue group hint: Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Purple group hint: Sounds like...

Answers for today's Connections groups

Yellow group: Downright.

Green group: Pennant.

Blue group: Cigarette brands.

Purple group: Homophones of ways to get smaller.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today's Connections answers?

Connections complete

The completed Connections puzzle for Feb. 13, 2026.

 New York Times/CNET

The yellow words in today's Connections

The theme is downright. The four answers are pure, sheer, stark and utter.

The green words in today's Connections

The theme is pennant. The four answers are banner, colors, flag and standard.

The blue words in today's Connections

The theme is cigarette brands. The four answers are Camel, Kent, Parliament and Salem.

The purple words in today's Connections

The theme is homophones of ways to get smaller. The four answers are lesson (lessen), reseed (recede), sync (sink) and wayne (wane).