Today's NYT Connections Hints & Answers for Mon, September 14, 2026
Get spoiler-free hints, full answers, and analysis for today's Connections puzzle, or search the archive for past solutions.
Today's NYT Connections Hints
- Yellow Hint: You might spot these gliding past your canoe on a quiet lake.
- Green Hint: The kind of pal who might trade your secret for a better deal.
- Blue Hint: Takeout can leave you with a pile of these to toss.
- Purple Hint: They’re all looking for the same word to tag along.
Today's NYT Connections Answers
Yellow Group Answer — Straightforward
Theme:WATERBIRDS
Green Group Answer — Medium
Theme:INFORMANT
Blue Group Answer — Hard
Theme:COMMON SINGLE-USE PLASTIC ITEMS
Purple Group Answer — Tricky
Theme:___GRASS
Today's NYT Connections Review & Analysis
- This is a moderately difficult board because the bird vocabulary contains a built-in fifth member, while the final wordplay category relies on compounds rather than a shared subject. Everyday plastic items are plainly related, but their broad household context can obscure the more exact grouping.
- CANARY is the principal decoy: it sits naturally beside COOT, GOOSE, LOON, and TEAL as a bird, yet belongs with terms for an informant. BLUE and TEAL also create a color association across groups, while CRAB can initially suggest an animal category rather than the phrase “crabgrass.”
- STIRRER is a small utensil used to mix a drink, making it part of the single-use plastic set alongside BAG, CUTLERY, and STRAW. CUTLERY is the collective term for eating utensils. CRAB in the Purple group is not the crustacean category; it completes the established compound crabgrass, a common lawn weed.
How to Use Our Spoiler-Free NYT Connections Hints
If you want help with today's NYT Connections without giving everything away, it's best to use the hints in stages. Many players start broad and only reveal more specific help if they get stuck.
Color-Coded Difficulty Hints
At the top of the page, you'll see four hints labeled by color. Yellow is usually the most straightforward, while Purple tends to be the most challenging. Reading these first helps you get a sense of the puzzle's overall themes.
Category Name Only
If that's not enough, you can expand a specific section (for example, Yellow Group Answer) to reveal the category name. The four words themselves stay hidden.
Revealing a Single Word
You can also reveal answers one at a time by clicking the ? icons. This gives you a foothold in a group without spoiling the entire set.
Full Group Reveal
When you want to check your solution—or move on—use the Reveal Answer button to show all four words in that group.
FAQ
When are today's Connections hints and answers released?
The page updates daily, usually shortly after midnight Eastern Time (ET), around the time the official New York Times Connections puzzle is released. If the new hints don't appear right away, a quick refresh after a few minutes usually does the trick.
What do the colors mean in NYT Connections?
Each color reflects the difficulty of a group. Yellow is the most straightforward, followed by Green, then Blue. Purple is typically the trickiest and often involves wordplay. The hints follow this same order to mirror how most players approach the puzzle.
How do I use the spoiler-free hints?
Hints are revealed in layers. You'll first see broad clues for each color group. If that's not enough, you can expand a group to view its Category Name. Individual words can then be revealed one at a time using the [?] icons, so you stay in control of how much help you get.
Can I find answers for past Connections puzzles?
Yes. Scroll to the Archive section, where you can choose any date from the past year to view that puzzle's full solution.