NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, October 16 (game #1223)

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 Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, October 15 (game #1222) .

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 #1223) - today's words (Image credit: New York Times) Today's NYT Connections words are… HUNGARY HUNGRY HIPPO CHICKEN CHIP CHAD COOLIDGE CYRUS SPAN MARK LAOS NICK PARAGUAY SMARTIES BULGARI SCRATCH NYT Connections today (game #1223) - hint #1 - group hints What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups? YELLOW: Paint repair required GREEN: Nations without a coastline BLUE: Nations with something absent PURPLE: Fashionable to begin with 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 #1223) - hint #2 - group answers What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups? YELLOW: SURFACE IMPERFECTIONS GREEN: LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES BLUE: EUROPEAN COUNTRIES MINUS A LETTER PURPLE: STARTING WITH WORDS FOR "STYLISH" Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1223) - the answers (Image credit: New York Times) The answers to today's Connections, game #1223, are… YELLOW: SURFACE IMPERFECTIONS: CHIP, MARK, NICK, SCRATCH GREEN: LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES: CHAD, HUNGARY, LAOS, PARAGUAY BLUE: EUROPEAN COUNTRIES MINUS A LETTER: BULGARI, CYRUS, HUNGRY, SPAN PURPLE: STARTING WITH WORDS FOR "STYLISH": CHICKEN, COOLIDGE, HIPPO, SMARTIES My rating: Easy My score: Perfect Having HUNGRY and HIPPO beside each other on the board, not to mention HUNGRY and HUNGARY, was very distracting.

Fortunately I managed to focus and completed the game without a hitch.

I got the four EUROPEAN COUNTRIES MINUS A LETTER first, but it was a toss of a coin between that and the quartet of LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES.