NYT Connections today answers for Feb. 8, 2026: Password rules and “Two” phrases

Sunday’s Connections puzzle (dated February 8, 2026) leaned into two classic forms of misdirection: everyday synonym clusters that look “too easy,” and a category that only clicks once you notice a shared construction. The result was a board that many solvers moved through smoothly until the final grouping—where a simple number set the theme.

Today’s Connections answers (Feb. 8, 2026)

Here are the four completed groups for the day, presented from easiest-to-spot themes to the trickiest pattern match:

Why the board felt straightforward—until it didn’t

Two of today’s sets were classic synonym families that many players could assemble quickly once they committed. “SUPPRESS” is built from words that share an action: stopping, restraining, or preventing expression. “SAME OLD STUFF” works because each word suggests repetition, routine, or a familiar pattern that keeps happening.

What made the grid sneakier is that several entries can plausibly belong to multiple themes if you stare too long. “DRILL” can be practice, a tool, or a verb. “GRIND” can be work, texture, or movement. When a board contains multi-meaning words like these, the game often rewards solvers who lock in the most obvious four-word set first, then let the remaining words reveal the next theme.

The “strong password” category that rewarded tech instincts

The third group stood out for anyone who has ever created an online account and been nudged by a password checklist. “LENGTH,” “NUMBER,” “SYMBOL,” and “UPPERCASE” map cleanly to the typical requirements that appear when sites demand complexity.

This category can still trap people who overthink it, because “NUMBER” and “SYMBOL” can also look like a math-themed or punctuation-themed set at first glance. The key is that the four words describe properties of a password, not items you would see in a calculator. If you recognized the checklist vibe early, this group likely unlocked the rest of the board quickly.

The hardest solve: phrases that follow “Two”

The final group—“WORDS AFTER ‘TWO’”—was the one most likely to hold out until the end. Each word becomes a common phrase when preceded by “two”: “two-bit,” “two cents,” “two-faced,” and “two-timer.” The trick is that these are not synonyms or a shared definition in the usual sense; they’re a construction.

Pattern groups like this often feel unfair until you spot the hook, and then they feel obvious in retrospect. In today’s grid, the words are ordinary enough on their own that solvers may try to force them into broader categories first. Once you consider a fixed prefix like “two,” though, the set tightens immediately.

How the night’s solving typically plays out

Many players start by hunting the “cleanest” set—four words that fit a single definition with minimal debate. Today, “SUPPRESS” and “SAME OLD STUFF” were both candidates for that first lock-in, depending on how your brain prioritizes action verbs versus routine nouns.

After two groups are solved, the remaining eight words are usually where the puzzle either becomes easy or turns into a trap. Today’s remaining board could split cleanly into a modern “password rules” bucket and a language-pattern bucket, which is why the puzzle tends to resolve quickly once you identify either the password checklist or the “two ___” construction.

What to watch for in future puzzles

This puzzle is a good reminder that Connections often alternates between meaning-based categories and structure-based categories. If you’ve exhausted “synonym thinking” and nothing fits, it’s worth testing formats like “goes with ___,” “sounds like ___,” “can be preceded by ___,” or “commonly follows ___.” Today’s “two” set is a textbook example of that last type.

Sources consulted: TechRadar, Parade, Forbes, Times of India