NYT Connections Hints for October 10, 2026

Every Connections board plants a few decoys. Here are today’s, and why they pull you the wrong way.

FEED

A constantly refreshing stream of posts, or the act of giving food to someone. In app design it names the main scrolling surface users land on.

THESIS

The central claim an essay sets out to defend — and also the name for a long research paper itself. It's the most ambitious item on a writer's to-do list.

SUPPOSE

To accept something as true without proof — the loosest, most hedged way of saying you think so. It signals uncertainty rather than knowledge.

PROFILE

A page displaying someone's photo, bio and activity, or a short descriptive piece about a person. The word straddles the digital and the written world, which is exactly the confusion it invites.

BEAT

To strike repeatedly, to keep a musical rhythm, or a journalist's assigned subject area. That last sense makes it a tempting fit for anything about writing.

DRAFT

An early, unfinished version of a piece of writing that exists to be improved. It also means a current of air, a summons of players, or beer served from a cask.

OUTLINE

A bare-bones plan showing the order and shape of a piece of writing before any sentences exist. It also simply means the outer edge of a shape.

NOTES

Brief jottings made to capture ideas before they escape. Casual and informal, they sit awkwardly beside more formal planning documents.

FIGURE

A shape, a number, a diagram in a paper — or a verb meaning to work something out and also to assume. The verb sense is easy to overlook because the noun senses are so strong.

GATHER

To collect things together, or to infer something from evidence. The second meaning is the one hiding here, alongside words about drawing a conclusion.

NOTIFICATIONS

The running tally of alerts — likes, replies, follows — that an app pushes at you. The busiest and most attention-grabbing corner of a platform's interface.

SHADOW

The dark shape cast when something blocks light, or a verb meaning to follow someone covertly. Its more playful life comes as the opening half of a training exercise.

KICK

To strike with a foot, or a sudden surge of excitement. Short and punchy, it reads like pure action until you notice what it can attach to.

IMAGINE

To picture something in your mind — or, much more quietly, to assume something is the case. The second sense is easy to miss because the first is so vivid.

UN

A prefix meaning 'not' or 'the undoing of an action'. Standing alone on a board like this, it looks like a stray fragment rather than a word in its own right.

MESSAGES

The private, one-to-one conversation area of an app, distinct from the public stream of posts. The plural form signals a whole inbox rather than a single text.

A classically Wyna Liu build: three groups resolve on meaning alone, so the board feels welcoming, while the fourth hides entirely in compound structure. The elegance is that BOXING never appears — solvers must supply the missing half themselves. UN is the stroke of mischief, breaking the athletic rhythm set up by BEAT, KICK and SHADOW.

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