If you play NYT Games regularly, you must have spotted badges once you complete a puzzle. While most players are crazy about earning Wordle badges, it isn’t the only NYT game with badges. As of now, four NYT games have badges, and Connections is one of them. So, what Connections badges are available, what do they mean, and what do you need to do to earn them? In this guide, we have explained it all in detail.
List of NYT Connections Badges
Before we discuss each NYT Connections badge and its specifics, here’s a brief look at all the badges and how to obtain them.
| Badge | How to Earn | Milestones |
|---|---|---|
 First Purple First | Complete your first Connections puzzle starting with the purple category | First-time achievement |
 Purple First | Successfully complete Connections starting with the purple category | 3, 5, 10, 15, 25, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 250, 350, 500 |
 First Perfect Puzzle | Complete your first Connections puzzle without making a mistake | First-time achievement |
 Perfect Puzzle | Complete Connections without making any mistakes | 3, 5, 10, 15, 25, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 250, 350, 500 |
 Reverse Rainbow | Complete a puzzle without mistakes in the Purple→ Blue→ Green→ Yellow order | Standalone |
 Streak Badge | Complete Consecutive Connections puzzles without losing | 7, 14, 30, 60, 100, 150, 250, 365 days |
 1000 Connections | Complete 1000 Connections puzzles, win or lose | Standalone |
 Trick-or-Triumph Challenge | Completed the special themed puzzle on October 31, 2025 | Event-specific |
 1000th Puzzle Challenge | Completed the special themed puzzle on March 7, 2026 | Event-specific |
Now that you know what badges exist, let’s take a closer look at them before you get to today’s Connections answer to earn new badges. While some badges are refreshingly straightforward to earn, others require you to be good at seeing connections before you run out of chances.
First Purple First Badge
This badge is basically your introduction to the Purple First badge series. It is meant to award you for the first time you complete a Connections puzzle by solving the purple category first.
Just solve the Connections puzzle once, starting with the purple category, and you earn this badge.
While this may seem like a milestone in the Purple First badge series, it’s not treated as one. It gets a separate badge. So, once you receive this, you can start working toward the numbered Purple First milestones.
Purple First Badges
Purple First badges are meant to award players who spot the trickiest category and solve it before the others. If you play the game regularly, you know that the purple category in Connections is the hardest to guess.
To earn the Purple First badges, you need to complete a Connections puzzle by finding the purple category before other categories.
This isn’t a one-off badge; it includes milestones: 3, 5, 10, 15, 25, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 250, 350, and 500. So, once you’ve pulled off three Purple First solves, you achieve the 3rd milestone. If you keep playing regularly, you’ll eventually work your way towards achieving more milestones.
Note that NYT doesn’t display every milestone as a separate badge. Instead, the number on the badge changes to show your latest achievement. So, if you’ve reached 25 and then hit 50, you will see the 50 Purple First badge in your collection.
But don’t worry, your earlier achievements don’t just disappear. You can view them by tapping on the badge and scrolling back.
First Perfect Puzzle Badge
As the name indicates, the First Perfect Puzzle badge is awarded when you solve a Connections puzzle without making a single mistake for the first time. So, this is basically your “welcome to the Perfect Puzzle club” badge!
Getting this badge isn’t as easy as it looks. NYT Connections allows four mistakes, but to get this badge, you can’t use even one. There is no space for wrong submissions or last-second realizations. So, to earn the First Perfect Puzzle badge, you must know how to avoid common NYT Connections mistakes.
Perfect Puzzle Badges
NYT Connections is exceptionally good at making words look like they belong together when, in reality, one of them is only trying to ruin your day. So, if through practice or pure luck, you solve a puzzle without making even a single mistake, you are rewarded with the Perfect Puzzle badge.
Note that to earn this badge, you don’t have to follow any specific color sequence. You can start and end with any category, as long as you make no mistakes.
This Connections badge also has milestones: 3, 5, 10, 15, 25, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 250, 350, and 500. This means only your latest milestone number appears on the badge. So, like the Purple First badge, to view your past achievements, tap on the badge and scroll back.
Reverse Rainbow Badge
A Reverse Rainbow Badge is awarded when you complete a Connections puzzle in the reverse difficulty order without making any mistakes. By now, you must know what each color means in NYT Connections. Still, to brush up, Yellow is the easiest, followed by Green, Blue, and Purple.
Now, if you solve a Connections puzzle in the 🟪 Purple → 🟦 Blue → 🟩 Green → 🟨 Yellow order, without making any mistakes, you get the Reverse Rainbow in Connections.
Connections Streak Badges
While there has been a long-standing competition between Wordle vs Connections, one thing they have in common is Streaks. A streak is achieved when you solve consecutive Connections puzzles without losing. NYT lets you maintain streaks and award badges for specific streak milestones.
The streak milestones for which NYT Connections rewards badges are:
- 7-day Streak
- 14-day Streak
- 30-day Streak
- 60-day Streak
- 100-day Streak
- 150-day Streak
- 250-day Streak
- 365-day Streak, and so on
Remember that NYT keeps adding more milestone badges as you keep progressing. So, if you have already reached a 365-day streak, your screen will automatically update to show the next milestone you can achieve.
Furthermore, like the other milestone badges, Connections displays only your most recent streak achievement. As you progress, you won’t see a separate badge for the previous milestones. You can simply see them by tapping on the badge and scrolling back.
1000 Connections Badge
It’s no secret that Connections isn’t an easy game, and maintaining a winning streak can be difficult for many players out there. But there’s a badge that you can earn just by knowing how to play NYT Connections.
The 1000 Connections badge is awarded when you’ve completed a thousand Connections puzzles, regardless of whether you won or lost.
Remember that there is an important distinction between the 1000 Connections badge and Streak badges. To get this badge, you don’t have to win every game or play consecutively. It is awarded as and when you have played 1000 puzzles. So, if you’re a player who is occasionally humbled by the game, don’t worry, your losses aren’t exactly wasted. They’re still taking you toward 1000.
Trick-or-Triumph Challenge Badge
Some NYT Connections badges are tied to special events rather than achievements. The Trick-or-Triumph Challenge badge was awarded to subscribers who successfully completed a special themed Connections puzzle on October 31, 2025.
Since it was tied to Halloween and a specific puzzle date, this was a limited-time achievement. If you didn’t complete the challenge back then, you can’t earn the badge now.
If this Connections badge is sitting in your unearned section and you’re wondering whether there’s some secret trick to unlock it, there isn’t one at the moment!
1000th Puzzle Challenge Badge
The 1000th Puzzle Challenge badge was a special achievement badge released on the day of the 1000th Connections puzzle. It was awarded to players who completed a special themed puzzle on March 7, 2026.
Like the Trick-or-Triumph badge, this was a date-specific badge challenge and is no longer available to obtain. However, this won’t be the last special badge we see.
The New York Times can add more event-based badges in the future, so if you’re trying to collect as many Connections badges as possible, keep an eye out for the new challenges and special events.
How to Check Your NYT Connections Badges
Now that we have seen all the NYT Connections badges available so far, follow the steps below to see them in the NYT Games app.
- Open the NYT Games app on Android or iPhone.
- Select the ‘Me’ profile icon at the bottom of the screen.
- Select View all badges and find the Connections section.
- Browse through the Earned badges to see the achievements you’ve unlocked.
- Scroll to the Unearned badges to see what you’re still working towards.
In this section, you can tap on a specific badge to see all of its details. This will show your previous milestones. You can check your progress for unearned badges through the indicator below them as well.
For example, if a badge shows 3/5, it means you have completed three achievements toward the next milestone, which is 5.
Tips to Earn Connections Badges Faster
While some badges come naturally with time, others require a little more strategy. Here are a few things you can do to improve your chances of earning NYT Connections badges:
- Look for the purple category first: Since Purple First and Reverse Rainbow both require you to start with the purple category, identifying it early can help you work toward both badges. Purple is usually the trickiest category, so don’t rush to submit because you think you have the answer.
- Don’t submit until you’re confident: NYT Connections gives you four mistakes, but that doesn’t mean you should use them. If you’re trying to earn the Perfect Puzzle badge, every submission matters, so take a moment to check whether all four words genuinely belong to the same category. Take your time, confirm by cross-checking with other categories, and submit only when you’re sure.
- Watch out for red herrings: The New York Times loves adding words into the puzzle that seem to fit multiple categories. If four words look like they belong together, don’t get overly confident. Before making your guess, check the remaining words. Sometimes the odd word is the key to finding the real category. This applies to common mistakes in Sports Connections as well.
- Don’t miss a daily puzzle: If you’re working towards earning Streak badges, then consistency is as important as your solving ability. Ensure to make Connections a part of your daily routine and try not to leave the puzzle until you’ve completed it. This is important when you’re close to a new streak milestone.
- Keep an eye on special challenges: Event-based badges aren’t available all the time and are usually tied to a specific date or puzzle. If you’re serious about collecting Connections badges, keep checking the game regularly so you don’t miss out on new limited-time challenges.
That was everything you need to know about Connections badges and how to earn them. Use these tips as they might just help you get the answer right and bring you one step closer to adding another badge to your collection.
Connections has nearly 30 badges, including Purple First, Perfect Puzzle, Reverse Rainbow, Streak badges, and more. Note that this is not a fixed list, and The New York Times keeps adding new badges to challenge the players.
A Perfect Puzzle in Connections is when you complete a game without making any mistakes. You’re awarded the First Perfect Puzzle badge for the first game you solve without any mistakes. After that, a separate Perfect Puzzle badge maintains your milestones.
You can earn the Purple First badge by completing Connections with the purple category as your first solved group. This badge has multiple milestones, starting at three. So, as you keep solving more games with the purple category first, you keep on adding new milestones to your badge.
A Reverse Rainbow is a badge earned in Connections when you solve a puzzle without making any mistakes while solving the categories in this order: Purple → Blue → Green → Yellow.
No, the event badges are tied to specific dates and special puzzles. Once those events end, the badges can no longer be earned. You can, however, wait for the game to add new event badges.
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