Pastimes

NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, October 4

Kris Holt — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Gif by cbc on Giphy

Hey there, Connectors. I hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend so far.

I haven’t really been able to stop thinking about this video since I watched it. I hope it helps anyone reading this who needs it too.

I always enjoyed watching Ettore “Big E” Ewen as a wrestler. He is an incredibly charismatic, entertaining guy and his group, The New Day, always championed “the power of positivity.” I wasn’t aware until recently, however, that Ewen has long been dealing with mental health challenges. He gave a TEDx talk on his struggles and how he’s been addressing them, including after a serious injury forced him to retire from the ring a few years ago.

Please note: This video includes discussion of suicidal ideation.

I really appreciated hearing Ewen’s story and that he’s being so open about his challenges. Destigmatizing mental health issues is so, so important and it’s always helpful when a public figure can talk about them with clarity to help raise awareness. After hearing how much meditation has helped him, I’m going to give it a go.

Okay, that was heavy. Let’s get on with the fun puzzle game we all enjoy so much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, October 4 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

WIG
FILM
AUCTION
TABLE
PADDLE
COLLAR
GAVEL
LOT
BUNCH
BALL
PARTNER
NET
ROBE
HEAP
TREATMENT
STACK

And the level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — won’t run out of that for a while
🟩 Green group — essentials for an IRL version of Pong
🟦 Blue group — one might need to "order" these for a particular role
🟪 Purple group — hill, night and disco would fit in here

One Word For Each Connections Group

Need some extra help?

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — STACK
🟩 Green group — PADDLE
🟦 Blue group — WIG
🟪 Purple group — PARTNER

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — considerable amount
🟩 Green group — table tennis needs
🟦 Blue group — parts of a judge costume
🟪 Purple group — silent _____

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — considerable amount (BUNCH, HEAP, LOT, STACK)
🟩 Green group — table tennis needs (BALL, NET, PADDLE, TABLE)
🟦 Blue group — parts of a judge costume (COLLAR, GAVEL, ROBE, WIG)
🟪 Purple group — silent _____ (AUCTION, FILM, PARTNER, TREATMENT)

I thought there might be something to do with WIG, GAVEL and ROBE for a judge, but I wasn't seeing the fourth word immediately. I did draw a link between BUNCH and LOT, so I knocked out the yellows first.

COLLAR and TREATMENT had me wondering for a second if there might be a group of "shock ____" phrases, but nothing else really fit. I then realized that COLLAR was the word I was looking for to complete the blues.

After that, the greens jumped out at me and I figured out the purple category before submitting that group for win 581 on my current streak.

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. I’ll be back over at Forbes for the Monday-Friday editions for the column. And if you haven’t subscribed to Pastimes already, definitely do that! It would be super sweet of you.

Subscribe to Pastimes here

P.S. I really love Juniper’s cover of “Ocean Eyes.” It’s already one of my favorite Billie Eilish songs, but there’s something about this take that pulls me in even deeper:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

On weekdays, you can find this column over at Forbes. Please follow my blog there for more coverage of NYT Connections and other word games, and even some video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me out a lot!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, October 3

Kris Holt — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Gif by friends on Giphy

Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to the weekend! I hope it’s a wonderful one for you.

It’s provincial election time here in Quebec and I will be glad to see the back of the rotten party that’s been governing for the last eight years and running the province into the ground. The party that’s likely to be voted in is a bit more centrist. They can’t possibly be much worse, but I’m still hoping they fall short of a majority.

Alas, the party I’m voting for is only polling at around 10% as I write this. We should find out the results on Monday.

(Sorry to those who prefer the more lighthearted intros!)

Before we begin, we have a great little community on Discord, where we chat about NYT Connections, the rest of the NYT games and all kinds of other stuff. Everyone who has joined has been lovely. It’s a fun hangout spot, and you’re more than welcome to join us.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, October 3 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

WHITNEY HOUSTON
LINDA HAMILTON
RIVER PHOENIX
JOHN DENVER
GETTY IMAGES
ELBOW GREASE
CAN OPENER
SOMETHING WICKED
FAT CATS
HEAD WAITER
MERV GRIFFIN
BROAD BEAN
NY GIANT
MET HALFWAY
W.C. FIELDS
DIET SPRITE

The level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — sometimes, when you've gotta go, you've gotta go immediately
🟩 Green group — stage exit
🟦 Blue group — there's a fine art to coming up with these hints*
🟪 Purple group — found in fiction, often at the climax

One Word For Each Connections Group

Be warned: we’re really starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — HEAD WAITER
🟩 Green group — SOMETHING WICKED
🟦 Blue group — MET HALFWAY
🟪 Purple group — DIET SPRITE

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Need some extra help?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — starting with terms for "toilet"
🟩 Green group — ending in musicals
🟦 Blue group — starting with U.S. museums
🟪 Purple group — ending in fantasy characters

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — starting with terms for "toilet" (CAN OPENER, HEAD WAITER, JOHN DENVER, W.C. FIELDS)
🟩 Green group — ending in musicals (ELBOW GREASE, FAT CATS, LINDA HAMILTON, SOMETHING WICKED)
🟦 Blue group — starting with U.S. museums (BROAD BEAN, GETTY IMAGES, MET HALFWAY, WHITNEY MUSEUM)
🟪 Purple group — ending in fantasy characters (DIET SPRITE, MERV GRIFFIN, NY GIANT, RIVER PHOENIX)

Oh, goodness. I would definitely have put together an Answers Explained if this game had fallen on a weekday. However, once I got into the swing of it, I felt that this wasn't too difficult of a game. I imagine some of you will not enjoy this one, though.

FAT CATS and SOMETHING WICKED were my entry points into the greens. W.C. FIELDS had to be a toilet reference, so that led me toward the yellows. The phrase "gonna hit the head" was the only reason I figured out that HEAD WAITER belonged there.

I saw that RIVER PHOENIX and MERV GRIFFIN ended with mythological beasts, so that opened up the purples. After that, I realized three of the remaining phrases started with museums. I wasn't familiar with The Broad until now.

I'm very glad that my winning streak now sits at 580 games.

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦

*And I don't always get it quite right!

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for hints and the solution for Sunday’s game if you need them.

P.S. Here's a song the YouTube algorithm recommended to me that I quite enjoyed. "Time Will Make You Change" by Enola is an atmospheric, melancholic track that's helping me get into the fall spirit:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, September 27

Kris Holt — Sat, 26 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Giphy

Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend so far.

I stumbled across something on Wikipedia that I found pretty interesting. From the name, I thought a fire control tower would be the same thing as a fire lookout tower, as in it’s a place where people search the landscape for fires and take appropriate action when they see one.

But that’s not what fire control towers are at all! They’re found near coastlines and used as vantage points to spot enemy ships and direct gunfire toward them. I think more things should have clear and obvious names, especially when they’re involved in life-and-death situations.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, September 27 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

WU-TANG
CARRIER
HOMING
BOOTH
STOOL
MARBLE
BBQING
OPERATOR
CLAY
BANQUETTE
NETWORK
CHAIR
LOHAN
BRONZE
PROVIDER
PLASTER

And the level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — statue fundamentals
🟩 Green group — a host may take you there
🟦 Blue group — [YouTube link]

🟪 Purple group — time to look toward the east, fittingly enough

One Word For Each Connections Group

Need some extra help?

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — PLASTER
🟩 Green group — BOOTH
🟦 Blue group — OPERATOR
🟪 Purple group — HOMING

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — sculpture media
🟩 Green group — restaurant seating options
🟦 Blue group — telecom
🟪 Purple group — ending in Chinese dynasties

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — sculpture media (BRONZE, CLAY, MARBLE, PLASTER)
🟩 Green group — restaurant seating options (BANQUETTE, BOOTH, CHAIR, STOOL)
🟦 Blue group — telecom (CARRIER, NETWORK, OPERATOR, PROVIDER)
🟪 Purple group — ending in Chinese dynasties (BBQING, HOMING, LOHAN, WU-TANG)

I thought there either had to be a "____ pigeon" group or mobile network operators from the jump. As I looked around, I saw that CLAY would fit into a group of molding materials. So, I cleared the blues, then the yellows.

There were no other obvious "clans" on the grid, so I figured there had to be some wordplay going on with WU-TANG. The Tang Dynasty sprang to mind, which fit in with LOHAN (Han) and BBQing (Qing). HOMING (Ming) rounded out the purples. That left the greens for win number 574 on the spin.

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩

Subscribe to Pastimes here

P.S. Oh no, I'm in an Elliott Smith kinda mood. Don't get me wrong, he was an incredible artist, but it feels like the only way to properly listen to his music is when you're staring outside through a window that's getting battered with rain. Anyway, "Twilight" is a perfect song:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, September 26

Kris Holt — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Gif by cbc on Giphy

Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to the weekend!

I don’t want to go on another long rant about how awful all of this AI nonsense is right now. However, I will say that I recently read about how one person used AI to set up automated out-of-office email replies and that somehow cost their company $10,000 per day.

I’ve been using out-of-office replies for years on the rare occasions when I take time off. It hasn’t cost me a penny. Just saying.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, September 26 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

MINT
PRESS
GRAIN
BEANS
STARCH
CAT
CUCUMBER
RINGS
GUM
FOLD
KNOTS
CUSTOMER
WASH
MOUTHWASH
BURL
SPRAY

The level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — palate cleansers, so to speak
🟩 Green group — process that can help pros look sharp
🟦 Blue group — all bark, no bite
🟪 Purple group — like heads, jets and story

One Word For Each Connections Group

Be warned: we’re really starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — SPRAY
🟩 Green group — PRESS
🟦 Blue group — BURL
🟪 Purple group — CAT

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Need some extra help?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — breath fresheners
🟩 Green group — things done to a dress shirt at the laundry
🟦 Blue group — features of wood
🟪 Purple group — "cool" things, in expressions

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — breath fresheners (GUM, MINT, MOUTHWASH, SPRAY)
🟩 Green group — things done to a dress shirt at the laundry (FOLD, PRESS, STARCH, WASH)
🟦 Blue group — features of wood (BURL, GRAIN, KNOTS, RINGS)
🟪 Purple group — "cool" things, in expressions (BEANS, CAT, CUCUMBER, CUSTOMER)

MOUTHWASH made the breath fresheners clear as day, then STARCH landing next to PRESS, WASH and FOLD did the same for the greens.

CUCUMBER and BEANS brought to mind "cool as a CUCUMBER" and "cool BEANS," which opened the door to the purples. I wasn't too sure about BURL, but the remaining words helped me figure out the blue category to wrap up my 573rd win in a row.

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for hints and the solution for Sunday’s game if you need them.

P.S. I’ve always loved “Praise You” by Fatboy Slim, but had never listened to “Take Yo’ Praise,” the song from which he sampled the vocals, until recently. This track from Camille Yarbrough is a solid funk song:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, September 20

Kris Holt — Sat, 19 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Giphy

Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend so far.

Let’s get things started with a beautiful message I think we should all take to heart. Christian Bale’s foundation recently completed work on a village that’s designed to keep siblings together while they’re in foster care. That’s a fantastic, laudable achievement, and it goes to show that society could be doing much more to take better care of kids who are in the foster system.

I absolutely LOVE this.
Christian Bale spent roughly 17 years fighting to make this happen.
This week, his foster-care village opened in Palmdale, California: 12 homes built specifically to help keep siblings together when they enter foster care.
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com)
12:30 AM • Sep 12, 2026

During an interview, Bale said something that stuck with me. I’ve heard a version of this before, but the way Bale said it really landed with me.

“Even if you can’t do great things, you can do small things in a great way,” he said.

That’s a beautiful message. We can all make a big difference to a small number of people in our orbit.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, September 20 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

TWILIGHT
SNOW
TORTILLA
SKATE
DERBY
FRIED CHICKEN
COASTER
HOVER
BLADE
BLU-RAY
BLUEGRASS
SAND DOLLAR
NEAR DARK
BOURBON
SURF
SINNERS

And the level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — I'd love to see what a discus thrower could do with these
🟩 Green group — like moonshine and coal mining
🟦 Blue group — stories with plenty of bite... or not, that's your opinion!
🟪 Purple group — long and (perhaps) finger would work here

One Word For Each Connections Group

Need some extra help?

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — BLU-RAY
🟩 Green group — DERBY
🟦 Blue group — NEAR DARK
🟪 Purple group — SNOW

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — round flat things
🟩 Green group — associated with Kentucky
🟦 Blue group — vampire movies
🟪 Purple group — _____boards you ride on

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — round flat things (BLU-RAY, COASTER, SAND DOLLAR, TORTILLA)
🟩 Green group — associated with Kentucky (BLUEGRASS, BOURBON, DERBY, FRIED CHICKEN)
🟦 Blue group — vampire movies (BLADE, NEAR DARK, SINNERS, TWILIGHT)
🟪 Purple group — _____boards you ride on (HOVER, SKATE, SNOW, SURF)

My first thought was that BLUEGRASS was an interesting inclusion, since we had a reference to that a few days ago. Second thought was that DERBY and FRIED CHICKEN could be preceded by Kentucky. BOURBON fit there as well, but I didn't see a fourth contender right away.

So, I turned my attention to the vampire movies for a fairly easy blue. I've never seen NEAR DARK and probably, for the sake of curiosity, should try TWILIGHT.

I took a stab at the Kentucky bunch with BLUEGRASS and got the greens. At that point, I saw the ___board words. I then figured out that the yellows were all discs to wrap up win 567 on this ridiculous streak.

(I really liked typing "567." That was fun.)

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟨🟨🟨🟨

Subscribe to Pastimes here

P.S. Paul Heaton is such a brilliant, evocative songwriter. This was the first song I've heard since Rianne Downey — an artist who's new to me — started singing with him. Sure, "Sad Songs And Lawsuits" is a track about breakups and divorces, but they somehow left a smile on my face (a trick Heaton manages to pull off quite often):

Just because this is one I probably wouldn't be able to include in the Forbes version of the column, here's a bonus recommendation for you. "Don't Marry Her" is one of Heaton's classics from his time in The Beautiful South:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, September 19

Kris Holt — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Gif by friends on Giphy

Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to the weekend! I hope you’ve got some fun plans in store.

I love websites and I’m a big fan of the Tiny Awards. These celebrate small, hand-crafted websites. My favorite of this year’s nominees might be Paul Julian Brown's ipod. It’s a time capsule that recreates the iPod of Paul Brown’s father, who died in 2018.

It’s a lovely tribute that features the music Brown’s dad had on his iPod, as well as some photos. I thought it was very sweet.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, September 19 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

STICK FIGURE
MINISKIRT
LOG CABIN
SUN
TAN LINE
BRANCH OUT
HOUSE
TWIGGY
TREE
MOD
SIN CITY
GROW
COS LETTUCE
EXPAND
CARNABY STREET
DIVERIFY

The level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — get out of the bubble
🟩 Green group — you might see these stuck to a fridge in a young family's home
🟦 Blue group — Austin Powers would have been very familiar with these
🟪 Purple group — features of a certain scientific device

One Word For Each Connections Group

Be warned: we’re really starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — GROW
🟩 Green group — SUN
🟦 Blue group — MOD
🟪 Purple group — LOG CABIN

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Need some extra help?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — widen one's scope
🟩 Green group — features of a kid's drawing
🟦 Blue group — associated with Swinging London in the 1960s
🟪 Purple group — starting with abbreviated math functions

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — widen one's scope (BRANCH OUT, DIVERSIFY, EXPAND, GROW)
🟩 Green group — features of a kid's drawing (HOUSE, STICK FIGURE, SUN, TREE)
🟦 Blue group — associated with Swinging London in the 1960s (CARNABY STREET, MINISKIRT, MOD, TWIGGY)
🟪 Purple group — starting with abbreviated math functions (COS LETTUCE, LOG CABIN, SIN CITY, TAN LINE)

I thought about starting with things that begin with parts of a tree. But as I looked around the grid, I realized that TWIGGY maybe made more sense with the London/'60s icons, which got me the blues. I wasn't sure about CARNABY STREET there, but it was the only thing that made sense with the other three.

BRANCH OUT led me into the yellows. I don't think I'd heard of a COS LETTUCE before, but I know cosine is a mathematical function, so I was able to get the purples after I glanced at LOG CABIN.

The greens also might be features of a drawing from someone who is bad at drawing. I am bad at drawing.

That's win 566 in a row for me. How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for hints and the solution for Sunday’s game if you need them.

P.S. I do love learning about pretty much anything and everything, but that comes with a downside if you’re an overthinker. My mind is racing almost all of the time. I’ll have a bit more to say about that soon, I think, along with the start of what I hope will be regular (probably quarterly) status updates on me and my life. That could be be an interesting little sidequest to share with you.

For now, I will say that I relate quite strongly to the lyrics of “More Dumb” by Durry. I can’t say I love the title, since “dumb” is an ableist term. But I can point to the words of the song and say “yup, that sounds like me.” I hope you enjoy it:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, September 6

Kris Holt — Sat, 05 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Giphy

Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend so far.

I’ll be skipping next weekend’s editions of this column here on Pastimes. It’s going to be an extremely busy week between work — Wednesday is going to be brutal given the iPhone event and the Nintendo Direct — and a couple of shows. I know I’ll need a little breather.

I have some other things I’ve been meaning to get to as well, so freeing up some time and energy for those will hopefully help me get through them. No plans to take a break from the column on Forbes anytime soon, though. 🙂

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, September 6 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

SAT SCORE
UPC CODE
USB PORT
ATM MACHINE
CARD SLOT
BLANK CHECK
COURT SCRIBE
PIN NUMBER
DIRECTOR'S CUT
OPTICAL DRIVE
CARTE BLANCHE
HEADPHONE JACK
FREE REIGN
PIZZA SLICE
LCD DISPLAY
FULL AUTHORITY

And the level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — as you wish
🟩 Green group — entry points on a tower
🟦 Blue group — no need to spell that out here
🟪 Purple group — we all want to leave our mark, eventually

One Word For Each Connections Group

Need some extra help?

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — CARTE BLANCHE
🟩 Green group — CARD SLOT
🟦 Blue group — UPC CODE
🟪 Purple group — PIZZA SLICE

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — unrestricted permission
🟩 Green group — places to insert something into on a computer
🟦 Blue group — abbreviations followed by redundant word
🟪 Purple group — ending with ways to carve a surface

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — unrestricted permission (BLANK CHECK, CARTE BLANCHE, FREE REIGN, FULL AUTHORITY)
🟩 Green group — places to insert something into on a computer (CARD SLOT, HEADPHONE JACK, OPTICAL DRIVE, USB PORT)
🟦 Blue group — abbreviations followed by redundant word (ATM MACHINE, LCD DISPLAY, PIN NUMBER, UPC CODE)
🟪 Purple group — ending with ways to carve a surface (COURT SCRIBE, DIRECTOR'S CUT, PIZZA SLICE, SAT SCORE)

The blues jumped out at me pretty much immediately with PIN NUMBER and ATM MACHINE leading me in. The yellows were up next. No issue there.

I could see all the PC phrases next, but figured they had to be the greens. Of course, I had to slide through the purples first. I was able to figure out that category before sliding them through. The greens wrapped up win 553 on my current streak. I thought this was much less scary than it seemed at first glance.

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩

Subscribe to Pastimes here

P.S. I still haven’t listened to Phoebe Bridgers’ new album, which is ridiculous given how much I adore her work. I feel like I need to be in a certain mindset and to be able to give it my undivided attention before I check out Lost Highway. For now, I’ll share ”Garden Song,” one of my favorites from her previous solo record, Punisher:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, September 5

Kris Holt — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Gif by OfflineGranny on Giphy

Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to the weekend!

I recently learned about the existence of rail grinders. These are maintenance trains that extend the lifespans of tracks by grinding them to prevent or get rid of corrugation. They cause a lot of sparks as well, which is cool, but risk starting fires.

To mitigate that, rail grinders typically have water cars. They can douse vegetation and such at the side of the tracks and even spray foam. Crew members in the rear car have water guns to put out fires too. A rail grinder might be accompanied by an extra vehicle that can help deal with blazes. I just thought this was neat and wanted to share:

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, September 5 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

SLEEPY
HONK
BOBBLE
GOBBLE
WARBLE
COBBLE
WOBBLE
TAR
PI
HAMMER
TODDLE
COO
SWAY
JUG
TORT
TOTTER

The level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — potential consequences of a balancing act
🟩 Green group — calls, but probably not ones you'd get to your phone
🟦 Blue group — like football in a Hey, Arnold insult and air or meat for an idiot
🟪 Purple group — missing a slice?

One Word For Each Connections Group

Be warned: we’re really starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — TOTTER
🟩 Green group — GOBBLE
🟦 Blue group — JUG
🟪 Purple group — TAR

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Need some extra help?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — move unsteadily
🟩 Green group — bird onomatopoeia
🟦 Blue group — _____head
🟪 Purple group — desserts minus last letter

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — move unsteadily (SWAY, TODDLE, TOTTER, WOBBLE)
🟩 Green group — bird onomatopoeia (COO, GOBBLE, HONK, WARBLE)
🟦 Blue group — _____head (BOBBLE, HAMMER, JUG, SLEEPY)
🟪 Purple group — desserts minus last letter (COBBLE, PI, TAR, TORT)

I got the bird noises first, followed by the yellows. SLEEPY and BOBBLE landing next to each other made the blues clear.

I really should have figured out the purple category (cobbler, pie, tart and torte), but I flubbed. No matter, since that's my 552nd win on the spin.

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for hints and the solution for Sunday’s game if you need them.

P.S. I haven’t mentioned Tim Curry’s passing until now. What a true legend. His charisma and screen presence was incredible. So I’d like to offer up The Rocky Horror Picture Show as your recommendation today. Curry gives a terrific performance in that film.

I’ve only seen it once, at a Halloween screening quite some time ago. I didn’t know any of the audience participation stuff, but I had a blast anyway. I was mostly trying to focus on the movie, in all honesty. It’s camp as hell, and so much fun:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, August 30

Kris Holt — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Gif by energylandia on Giphy

Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend so far.

So, how did you fare with the little challenge I set last Sunday? I asked y’all to go find out more about a topic you’ve been curious about but haven’t taken the time to read up on. The idea was that we’d reconvene today and chat about what we’ve learned and what made us interested in the topic in the first place.

I’m excusing myself from this exercise because I do this pretty often in the Connections intros 🙂 But if enough of you get involved, I’m hoping we can make this a regular thing. Maybe once a month or so?

Let’s chat about what you dug into and learned about either in the comments below or the Pastimes channel in our Discord group. I can’t wait to hear all about what you’ve discovered!

Speaking of which, we have a great little community on Discord, where we chat about NYT Connections, the rest of the NYT games and all kinds of other stuff. Everyone who has joined has been lovely. It’s a fun hangout spot, and you’re more than welcome to join us.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, August 30 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

REC CENTER
ALIAS
CORKSCREW
PLAYBOY
WANTED
STOPPER
ENERGIZER
REWARD
GYNMASIUM
CADBURY
AERATOR
YMCA
OUTLAW
HEALTH CLUB
TRIX
DECANTER

And the level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — I'd probably work up a sweat just getting there, making their purpose moot
🟩 Green group — useful after a trip to the cellar
🟦 Blue group — what the likes of Peter, Benjamin, Roger and Thumper might represent
🟪 Purple group — they refer to individuals being sought in the likes of Red Dead Redemption and Young Guns

One Word For Each Connections Group

Need some extra help?

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — REC CENTER
🟩 Green group — STOPPER
🟦 Blue group — PLAYBOY
🟪 Purple group — ALIAS

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — exercise facilities
🟩 Green group — wine accessories
🟦 Blue group — brands with bunny rabbit mascots
🟪 Purple group — words on an Old West wanted poster

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — exercise facilities (GYMNASIUM, HEALTH CLUB, REC CENTER, YMCA)
🟩 Green group — wine accessories (AERATOR, CORKSCREW, DECANTER, STOPPER)
🟦 Blue group — brands with bunny rabbit mascots (CADBURY, ENERGIZER, PLAYBOY, TRIX)
🟪 Purple group — words on an Old West wanted poster (ALIAS, OUTLAW, REWARD, WANTED)

I zipped through today's game in no time. The wine accessories jumped out at me first, then I took care of the yellows.

The purples were up next. I wasn't entirely sure how ALIAS fit in, but it was the only other thing that made sense.

I do not know TRIX at all, but ENERGIZER and PLAYBOY were enough for me to figure out the blue category.

Streak = 546

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦

Subscribe to Pastimes here

P.S. You may recall a couple of weeks ago that there was a song I wanted to recommend but could not recall the artist or title. Well, friends, I fuckin’ found it.

I saw a cool video on Reddit of a guy who flies to work using a paramotor and the song was playing in the background. I worked my internet magic and found out that it’s “Send Me On My Way” by Rusted Root. It’s catchy and a little trippy. It’s maybe not quite as laidback for a Sunday tune, but it’s full of joy. I like it a lot:

This live version is rad too:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, August 29

Kris Holt — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Gif by clevelandgolf on Giphy

Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to the weekend!

It’s been quite a while since I promised a new, non-Connections piece of writing here. I haven’t forgotten. I have it half-written in my brain. I just need to find the time and energy to put it together.

I would say that I’ve been holding back from sharing a few things in the Connections intros over the last little while, with a mind to putting those in the thing I have planned. That started out as one idea, but I think it might be best to lace in some other things that have been going on.

I share quite a bit of myself and my life in my Connections intros. I’m starting to think that it might be helpful to write something a bit longer about what’s going on with me on the regular. A quarterly status update or something like that. For me, mainly, but I hope you’ll be able to take something away from it as well. I’m wary that might get a little too LiveJournal-y, and I’m trying to avoid that. So… stay tuned, I guess?

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, August 29 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

GREEK
HYDRANT
BATTERY
HOUSE
TRITONE
ENGINE
ESCAPE
AT LAST
WEDGE
SPACE
RADIATOR
CHOPPED
CONTROL
HERALD
SHIFT
ALTERNATOR

The level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — they keep things motoring along
🟩 Green group — these are often green, appropriately enough
🟦 Blue group — alt idea: what if we enter home and drink a Tab?
🟪 Purple group — like fateful, museum, titanium, arest and gorgonzola

One Word For Each Connections Group

Be warned: we’re really starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — BATTERY
🟩 Green group — HOUSE
🟦 Blue group — ESCAPE
🟪 Purple group — HERALD

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Need some extra help?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — under the hood of a car
🟩 Green group — kinds of salad
🟦 Blue group — keyboard keys
🟪 Purple group — starting with figures from Greek myth

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — under the hood of a car (ALTERNATOR, BATTERY, ENGINE, RADIATOR)
🟩 Green group — kinds of salad (CHOPPED, GREEK, HOUSE, WEDGE)
🟦 Blue group — keyboard keys (CONTROL, ESCAPE, SHIFT, SPACE)
🟪 Purple group — starting with figures from Greek myth (AT LAST, HERALD, HYDRANT, TRITONE)

I knocked out the yellows first since those seemed pretty obvious. Right after that I realized there was a red herring of "fire ____" words that would have included ENGINE.

The salads were next after I tried to think of what might go with GREEK. At that point, the keyboard keys became clear.

I was fairly certain from the beginning that TRITONE would refer to Triton, but I didn't go looking for the others (Atlas, Hera and Hydra). Pretty sneaky in hindsight that GREEK was the first word on the default grid today.

Streak = 545

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for hints and the solution for Sunday’s game if you need them.

P.S. I’ve heard some teases of this over the last few months and I very much enjoyed the whole thing. This deadmau5 remix of “Fabienk” by Angine de Poitrine is a certified banger:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, August 23

Kris Holt — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Gif by bigbrainholdings on Giphy

Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend so far.

Rather than tell you about something that‘s going on in my life or I’m thinking about/reading/listening to/playing, I’m gonna try something a little different for today’s intro. Let’s call it a challenge.

I’m gonna give you one week to learn more about a topic you’ve been curious about but haven’t taken the time to read up on. Could be anything. Just keep it relatively clean.

Then we’ll meet back here in the comments or on Discord and, if you want, you can tell us what you’ve learned and why you found it interesting in the first place.

This little side quest could very quickly die on its arse. Or it could be fun.

Be fun and try. 🙂

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, August 23 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

ANTIFREEZE
VACUUM
BAKING SODA
VOLCANO
VINEGAR
VODKA
TINDERBOX
POTATO BATTERY
SKIING
HOME FRIES
CLUB SODA
POWDER KEG
HYDROGEN PEROXIDE
BAZAAR
VISCHYSSOISE
TIME BOMB

And the level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — like a party that’s heating up, these could really go off
🟩 Green group — like eyes that are real close together
🟦 Blue group — like a grainy video on the internet (perhaps), biodegradable plastics and industrial glues
🟪 Purple group — they can deal with a spot of bother

One Word For Each Connections Group

Need some extra help?

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — TINDERBOX
🟩 Green group — SKIING
🟦 Blue group — VODKA
🟪 Purple group — VINEGAR

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — potentially explosive things
🟩 Green group — double vowels
🟦 Blue group — made with potatoes
🟪 Purple group — household stain removers

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — potentially explosive things (POWDER KEG, TIME BOMB, TINDERBOX, VOLCANO)
🟩 Green group — double vowels (ANTIFREEZE, BAZAAR, SKIING, VACUUM)
🟦 Blue group — made with potatoes (HOME FRIES, POTATO BATTERY, VISCHYSSOISE, VODKA)
🟪 Purple group — household stain removers (BAKING SODA, CLUB SODA, HYDROGEN PEROXIDE, VINEGAR)

I spotted the double-vowel words pretty quickly. VISCHYSSOISE also had double letters, but ANTIFREEZE made more sense to me.

The cleaning products were up next and I was very surprised to see that those were the purples. I had no problems with the yellows. That left the blues, for which I was able to figure out the category. Not a fan of having POTATO BATTERY in a "made with potatoes" group.

Streak = 539

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦

Subscribe to Pastimes here

P.S. I have this song in my head at the minute and I can’t believe I haven’t used it as a recommendation before. “Last Request” was the song that propelled Paolo Nutini to stardom in the UK when he was just 19. It was his debut single, actually. It’s not quite my favorite song on his debut album — that would be “Jenny Don’t Be Hasty.” Still, this is a great tune for a relaxing Sunday:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, August 22

Kris Holt — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Gif by jnngxbp on Giphy

(Bet that’s going to be stuck in your head all day now. Sorry!)

Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to the weekend!

A couple of weeks back, I read a column by Dominik Diamond in which he writes about his family’s final game night while everyone’s still living together. It’s a bittersweet piece in which Diamond charts the ups and downs of the evening and his memories of playing games with his loved ones. I enjoyed reading it, so thought I’d share it with you.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, August 22 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

BITTER
SPICE
MEAN
WINTER
HAMMER
CONE
PLANE
JET
GOLDEN
SAW
MIST
MUSK
GILMORE
CHISEL
WATER
SHOWER

The level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — shop items
🟩 Green group — where a baller might come in handy
🟦 Blue group — bed-wetting options
🟪 Purple group — like indigo, cheeky and west end

One Word For Each Connections Group

Be warned: we’re really starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — PLANE
🟩 Green group — WINTER
🟦 Blue group — MIST
🟪 Purple group — MEAN

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Need some extra help?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — carpentry tools
🟩 Green group — kinds of melon
🟦 Blue group — garden hose settings
🟪 Purple group — _____ girls of pop culture

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — carpentrytools (CHISEL, HAMMER, PLANE, SAW)
🟩 Green group — kinds of melon (BITTER, MUSK, WATER, WINTER)
🟦 Blue group — garden hose settings (CONE, JET, MIST, SHOWER)
🟪 Purple group — _____ girls of pop culture (GILMORE, GOLDEN, MEAN, SPICE)

I figured I'd start things off easy with the tools, and also because that was the first grouping I saw that made sense.

The hose settings were up next, even though the presence of WATER gave me pause before sending those through.

I was stuck on thinking of "Happy GILMORE" for so long before my eyes drifted to GOLDEN just above that tile. MEAN and SPICE made sense with those for the purples.

It turns out that my knowledge of melons is extremely lacking, so I did not figure out the green category! I did wonder at the outset if MUSK, SPICE and MIST might refer to aftershave, but nope.

Streak = 538

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for hints and the solution for Sunday’s game if you need them.

P.S. I was listening to Oasis’ debut album Definitely Maybe for… reasons… recently. It’s a bit of an up and down record, but it does feature one of my favorite songs of theirs. “Live Forever” is pretty great:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, August 16

Kris Holt — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Gif by emmys on Giphy

Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend so far.

I have a point to make with this intro, so humor me.

I was recently playing Overwatch (as I often do) in my favorite mode, in which you play as a randomly selected character and switch to another after each death. A player on the other team was raging in the text chat because me and two others on my team each had the same character, essentially a robot that can fly and can be tough to take down. Bear in mind, we have no control over our character selections.

When I was the only player on my team left with the hero, this person said, “where are your pussy characters now???” or some such. I am not especially proud of this, but I noticed their character was low on health, so I flew toward them, bashed them with a quick strike to kill them and immediately dropped an “in your face, dumbass” message in the chat.

When a match of Overwatch ends, I’ll always drop a message saying something like “gg friends” (i.e. good game) with a heart in the chat, just to be nice. I usually scold people for being toxic in this casual mode too. This time, though, I wrote something like “gg to everyone smart enough to understand we can’t choose our own characters in this mode ♥.” Again, not entirely proud of that, but I had to try and put that jerk in their place.

I’m very much of the mindset that when someone is an asshole, you should kill ‘em with kindness. If that doesn’t work, clap back at them just enough to shut them up without stooping to their level. It’s part of my “don’t tolerate the intolerant or dickheads” mentality.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, August 16 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

PARTY
ACTOR
HANDY
GRAND
UPRIGHT
HALF
STEP
PLAYER
WISE
CONCERT
SET
AGENT
SHOW
GREAT
FROM NEANDER
GIG

And the level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — like watching someone play an ocarina in person
🟩 Green group — actively involved
🟦 Blue group — perhaps not quite nuclear
🟪 Purple group — they were like that back then

One Word For Each Connections Group

Need some extra help?

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — SHOW
🟩 Green group — AGENT
🟦 Blue group — GRAND
🟪 Purple group — WISE

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — musical performance
🟩 Green group — participant
🟦 Blue group — family relationship modifiers
🟪 Purple group — descriptors for our human ancestors

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — musical performance (CONCERT, GIG, SET, SHOW)
🟩 Green group — participant (ACTOR, AGENT, PARTY, PLAYER)
🟦 Blue group — family relationship modifiers (GRAND, GREAT, HALF, STEP)
🟪 Purple group — descriptors for our human ancestors (FROM NEANDER, HANDY, UPRIGHT, WISE)

I was sure pretty much immediately FROM NEANDER had to be a purple. I was thinking of it in terms of "ending with words for walk with one letter changed" (i.e. "meander"). But I couldn't see what else might work.

In any case, I sidestepped the red herring of pianos (CONCERT, GRAND, PLAYER, UPRIGHT) to get the yellows. I am thankful to GIG for seeing me through there.

HALF and STEP then helped me get the blues. The greens were up next, thanks to AGENT and PARTY. That left the purples. I did not get that at all, though FROM NEANDER (as in "neanderthal") should have been enough of a hint but I did not care for this group.

Streak = 532.

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪

(I tried to make the hints all Legend of Zelda references after initially thinking of "a link to the past" for the purples, but I couldn't make it work, so I abandoned the idea.)

Subscribe to Pastimes here

P.S. I have had a song stuck in my head for weeks that I’ve been wanting to use as a Sunday recommendation, but I cannot remember the title or artist. Maddening. It’s an older song, I know that much. I’m sure I will find out what it is at some point, but until then I will remain frustrated.

Anyway, you can’t really go wrong with Damien Rice. He’s incredible. I’m in a “9 Crimes” kind of mood today:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, August 15

Kris Holt — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Giphy

Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to the weekend!

Picture the scene: it’s 3am and you’re inexplicably still awake. You get an idea for a new project. You start piecing it together mentally. You set up a URL for it and register the newsletter. Oh no, oh dear.

This actually relates one of a few long-term projects I have in mind for whenever I have the time and energy to really focus on them. I’ve already started one and I’ll tell you about it soon. As for the third one, I don’t know when I’ll get that rolling, because it requires a bit of prep.

I haven’t posted a non-Connections piece of writing here since December, which is far too long. I’m aiming to remedy that soon, and then start chipping away at these new projects and writing about them (the grinning Grinch in the GIF is pretty reflective of my current mood, btw).

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, August 15 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

GRINCH
BEANSTALK
STAGE
LANYARD
HIGHTAIL
LEG
SOUNDTRACK
HOTFOOT
BEAT
STRETCH
FRIED
CHAMOMILE
SPENT
EYESHADOW
PHASE
WORN OUT

The level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — in need of a recharge
🟩 Green group — piece of a whole
🟦 Blue group — go the distance
🟪 Purple group — behind, even if you may not realize

One Word For Each Connections Group

Be warned: we’re really starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — SPENT
🟩 Green group — STAGE
🟦 Blue group — HOTFOOT
🟪 Purple group — EYESHADOW

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Need some extra help?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — exhausted
🟩 Green group — segment
🟦 Blue group — ending in units of length
🟪 Purple group — ending in synonyms for "follow secretly"

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — exhausted (BEAT, FRIED, SPENT, WORN OUT)
🟩 Green group — segment (LEG, PHASE, STAGE, STRETCH)
🟦 Blue group — ending in units of length (CHAMOMILE, GRINCH, HOTFOOT, LANYARD)
🟪 Purple group — ending in synonyms for "follow secretly" (BEANSTALK, EYESHADOW, HIGHTAIL, SOUNDTRACK)

I got the greens first, thanks to PHASE and STAGE. The yellows were next, thanks to WORN OUT leading the charge.

I didn't really know where to go from there, so I started looking at the components of each word. As it turns out, all of those that ended up in units of measurement were bunched together on the right of the grid. I slid those blues through, followed by the purples once I had that category figured out (stalk, shadow, tail and track).

Streak = 531.

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for hints and the solution for Sunday’s game if you need them.

P.S. A colleague shared “Cry Ugly” by Flo in our hangout channel in Slack the other day. I enjoyed this R&B song very much, so I’m passing it along to you all too:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, August 9

Kris Holt — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Gif by cbc on Giphy

(I know this is many people’s reaction to the suggestion of going to an escape room, but I’ve never done one and would like to!)

Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend so far.

I’m gonna give you a double dose of recommendations today. The podcast Lateral is one of my new favorite things. Each episode, famous YouTube person Tom Scott invites a few guests on to figure out the weird answers to strange questions. I knew who Scott was, of course, but wasn’t aware of the podcast until clips started popping up in recommendations a few months ago.

The panel takes on questions such as "David regularly bought a Greek newspaper that he knew he wouldn't read. Why?" and "Why do many children in India and Pakistan struggle to count past 20 in their native languages?."

One of the first clips I saw of Lateral was from when the chaps from Jet Lag: The Game (one of my even more favorite things) appeared on the show. They tried to figure out why a guy would spend a $5,000 return ticket on a flight from New Jersey to Tokyo, land feeling relieved, then immediately return on the same plane. This passenger only had his laptop and phone with him. Hmmm…

As the title suggests, getting to the solution generally requires lateral thinking. And each episode usually results in me learning something new, which is my actual favorite thing.

By the by, Scott is the guest on the next season of Jet Lag, which takes place in Japan. I’m very much looking forward to that starting next week.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, August 9 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

SHIFT GEARS
JURY DUTY
SPACE OPERA
LABYRINTH
CAPS FOR SALE
ESCAPE ROOM
NEO-NOIR
COURSE-CORRECT
BAD DREAM
CORDUROY
CHANGE TACK
MADELINE
RECALIBRATE
SPAGHETTI WESTERN
GOODNIGHT MOON

And the level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — let's try another way
🟩 Green group — bedtime tales
🟦 Blue group — different kinds of stories, with more specificity
🟪 Purple group — ticket, meeting and social obligation would fit in here

One Word For Each Connections Group

Need some extra help?

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — CHANGE TACK
🟩 Green group — CORDUROY
🟦 Blue group — SPAGHETTI WESTERN
🟪 Purple group — BAD DREAM

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — take a different approach
🟩 Green group — classic children's books
🟦 Blue group — movie subgenres
🟪 Purple group — things people try to get out of

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — take a different approach (CHANGE TACK, COURSE-CORRECT, RECALIBRATE, SHIFT GEARS)
🟩 Green group — classic children's books (CAPS FOR SALE, CORDUROY, GOODNIGHT MOON, MADELINE)
🟦 Blue group — movie subgenres (BUDDY COP, NEO-NOIR, SPACE OPERA, SPAGHETTI WESTERN)
🟪 Purple group — things people try to get out of (BAD DREAM, ESCAPE ROOM, JURY DUTY, LABYRINTH)

I did something a little different with today's game. Instead of just barreling through it and making guesses whenever I saw a potential group, I slowed down to reconsider things. After I highlighted the movie subgenres and was about to submit them, I spotted the phrases that start with keyboard keys, which included SPACE OPERA.

I wasn't sure which would be the red herring, so I looked elsewhere first. That's when I figured out the change strategy-group, which would take SHIFT GEARS out of the "starting with keyboard keys" bunch. So I stuck with my gut and guessed the movie subgenres. That got me the blues. And the yellows were next.

After looking at the remaining phrases for longer than I care to admit, ESCAPE ROOM, LABYRINTH and JURY DUTY gelled together. I chuckled as I submitted the purples.

That left the greens and, well, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Glad to have escaped that one with a 525th win in a row. Really enjoyed this one. More like these, please!

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩

(It would have taken me ages to put together an Answers Explained piece for this one. But I would have if this was a weekday game!)

Subscribe to Pastimes here

P.S. I'm going to make a departure from the laidback vibe I usually go with for the Sunday recommendation, because I don't want to forget to share this. It's about as far away as you can get from a "laidback recommendation," actually.

I have to admit, I didn't really love Nene Royal's viral cover of "Zombie" from America's Got Talent. It's an important song with a heavy subject matter, and not one I think should have screams or crowd participation in the way that Royal arranged/encouraged it.

I don't want to be too critical, though, especially since Royal was only 15 at the time of her performance. Her vocals are solid and she shreds her guitar with the greatest of ease. She's clearly incredibly talented and far cooler than I could ever hope to be, too.

I had to seek out some of her other performances. Here's an hour-long video of Royal (and her very talented, distressingly young backup band) performing at a market in her home of Phuket, Thailand.

Royal is not quite the finished article, but her poise, energy and guitar skills — especially for a 16-year-old — are something else. It's always fun when you see a performer for the first time and instantly recognize their star quality. Her raw talent and stage presence are remarkable.

I had to admire the band including four System of a Down covers and Avenged Sevenfold's "A Little Piece of Heaven" in the set. That's pretty ambitious! The video cuts off partway through that last song, but it's pretty damn funny to hear Royal scream some of those lyrics.

Warning: the video contains flashing lights:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, August 8

Kris Holt — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Gif by justin on Giphy

Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to the weekend!

Back when I was interviewing for my first job in journalism — as a sub-editor at my local newspaper — I was given a general knowledge quiz. I had to provide definitions for 20 or so terms.

One of those was “Hansard.” So, I wrote down Glen Hansard, who’d won an Oscar for writing “Falling Slowly” (the tribute linked there made me deeply sad about his death all over again). The interviewer asked me who he was and I explained. They then revealed the answer they were looking for was that Hansard is the official transcript system for parliamentary debates in the UK, Canada and other Commonwealth countries.

Still, the interviewer said my answer would still be treated as correct, given that it was a valid, newsworthy reference. And now I’ll never forget what Hansard means in terms of governance.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, August 8 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

EASY
WHOOPEE
BELT
GOGGLES
CUTIE
PHRASE
PIN
COUCH
HOT DOG
EFFECTS
EXPRESS
RAZOR
I OWE YOU
YAHOO
FRAME
HURRAH

The level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — oh, I do say, that's rather thrilling
🟩 Green group — get it across
🟦 Blue group — sounds like these could be more compact
🟪 Purple group — like dance, school and word

One Word For Each Connections Group

Be warned: we’re really starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — HOT DOG
🟩 Green group — FRAME
🟦 Blue group — EASY
🟪 Purple group — BELT

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Need some extra help?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — quaint expressions of excitement
🟩 Green group — convey
🟦 Blue group — words abbreviated with letters as homophones
🟪 Purple group — safety _____

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — quaint expressions of excitement (HOT DOG, HURRAH, WHOOPEE, YAHOO)
🟩 Green group — convey (COUCH, EXPRESS, FRAME, PHRASE)
🟦 Blue group — words abbreviated with letters as homophones (CUTIE, EASY, EFFECTS, I OWE YOU)
🟪 Purple group — safety _____ (BELT, GOGGLES, PIN, RAZOR)

The cushion red herring seemed a little too on the nose to me. It only took me a moment to figure out the yellows once I realized what WHOOPIE had to refer to.

The purples were next, thanks to PIN and GOGGLES. I OWE YOU then helped make the blues clear. That left the greens for win number 524 in a row for yours truly.

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for hints and the solution for Sunday’s game if you need them.

P.S. It’s been a minute since I’ve watched some Like a Version covers. I enjoyed Nerve’s recent take on Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack.” The harmonies and strings help make it distinct from the original. Good stuff:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, August 2

Kris Holt — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Gif by topmoviequotes on Giphy

Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend so far.

I feel like I’ve had a lot of wasted hours and days over the last several years. Playing games is one thing, since it’s genuinely satisfying and it’s often for work. Doomscrolling for hours on end? Not so much.

I’ve made more small-scale mistakes than I’d like to admit in recent memory. Those typically involve giving into temptation and seeking the quick dopamine rush of something like an unhealthy meal I enjoy and order too often. It’s the way my brain is wired, to take those easy thrills. I lack the self-control I need more of in certain areas of my life.

Even so, I’m attempting to give myself grace. It’s something we can all probably stand to do more of. (To ourselves, I mean. Not to me. (But if you’d like to give me grace, that’s cool too.))

I am trying very hard not to beat myself up over my mistakes and obsess over them. I’d like to convert that energy into something more productive and to train myself to make fewer of those missteps in the first place.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, August 2 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

LIKE
AIRPLANE
VIA
FLAX
À LA
SO
BY
DARK
PER
LORD
WELL
ASEA
THROUGH
BEAST
OLGA
ACTUALLY

And the level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — not much space for these in formal settings
🟩 Green group — in that vein or as a result of a given process
🟦 Blue group — a setting or how something’s done
🟪 Purple group — an extra stop?

One Word For Each Connections Group

Need some extra help?

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — WELL
🟩 Green group — PER
🟦 Blue group — DARK
🟪 Purple group — ASEA

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — filler words
🟩 Green group — by means of
🟦 Blue group — _____ mode
🟪 Purple group — U.S. airport codes plus starting letter

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — filler words (ACTUALLY, LIKE, SO, WELL)
🟩 Green group — by means of (BY, PER, THROUGH, VIA)
🟦 Blue group — _____ mode (AIRPLANE, BEAST, DARK, À LA)
🟪 Purple group — U.S. airport codes plus starting letter (ASEA, FLAX, LORD, OLGA)

Well, so, like, ACTUALLY brought the yellows together for me to get things started. The greens fell into place next.

I'm glad DARK and BEAST landed next to each other at that point, as I was able to deduce the blues. I thought those would be the purples. (I am team DARK mode for life, fyi.)

ASEA and OLGA suggested there was some wordplay going on this time. I didn't crack the code, and definitely would not have. Happy to get those by default for a 518th win in a row. Pretty sneaky to have AIRPLANE in a separate group!

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪

Subscribe to Pastimes here

P.S. I’ve been listening to Queens of the Stone Age a lot lately. They’re my favorite band of all time, and those first five records are nigh-on untouchable. I love that they continue to surprise, 30 years into their career.

Their recently released song “Easy Street” is a much more laidback number than you might normally expect from this band. It’s mostly acoustic guitars and hand claps and and earwormy melody. Lyrically, it’s more introspective than Josh Homme usually is.

It’s not entirely sunshine and roses, though, as the video isn’t exactly for the squeamish. Please do note that if you must:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, August 1

Kris Holt — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Giphy

Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to the weekend!

Canada’s biggest music festival is taking place in town this weekend. I’m not going this year. Today’s lineup actually looks pretty good. I don’t much care for the headliner, Tate McRae, but there’s plenty of other interesting stuff on the bill, such as Wolf Parade, my beloved Franz Ferdinand and the terrific Turnstile. I’d be interested in checking out Finn Wolfhard’s set as well.

I didn’t have a ticket anyway, but I opted out of this one for a few reasons. I’ve been to a few big events over the last week and there’s only so much I can handle of those these days. My social anxiety is probably the most intense it’s ever been. While I am trying to push myself to go outside and do more things (especially during summer!), I’m finding it harder to do that.

I do have a few events coming up, including a festival, another outdoor show and what could be a very fun Offspring gig in a few days. I don’t really want to miss any of them, so I need to make sure I manage my social battery appropriately over the coming weeks. I could do with some therapy sessions to help with that, so I’m getting those booked in.

I hope you’re taking care of yourself, friends.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, August 1 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

WALTZ
LOAFER
SHAM
BORE
REAM
BOULEVARD
SHEET
BALE
THROW
BUNDLE
JORDAN
ROLLS-ROYCE
PHOENIX
DRILL
COMFORTER
COUNTERSINK

The level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — how do you sleep at night?
🟩 Green group — statuesque figures in their industry
🟦 Blue group — make some space
🟪 Purple group — baked in

One Word For Each Connections Group

Be warned: we’re really starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — SHAM
🟩 Green group — WALTZ
🟦 Blue group — REAM
🟪 Purple group — ROLLS-ROYCE

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Need some extra help?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — bedding
🟩 Green group — Oscar-winning actors since 2010
🟦 Blue group — perform some hole machining operations
🟪 Purple group — starting with bread shapes

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — bedding (COMFORTER, SHAM, SHEET, THROW)
🟩 Green group — Oscar-winning actors since 2010 (BALE, JORDAN, PHOENIX, WALTZ)
🟦 Blue group — perform some hole machining operations (BORE, COUNTERSINK, DRILL, REAM)
🟪 Purple group — starting with bread shapes (BOULEVARD, BUNDLE, LOAFER, ROLLS-ROYCE)

As soon as I got to BALE, I thought of "Christian," which helped me get the greens. The others are Michael B. JORDAN, Christoph WALTZ and Joaquin PHOENIX. Not sure we really needed the "since 2010" qualifier here.

I zipped through the rest of this game, getting the yellows and blues in no time at all. LOAFER and ROLLS-ROYCE made the purple category clear when everything was on the same line. That's my 517th win on the spin.

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for hints and the solution for Sunday’s game if you need them.

P.S. I should probably get a little more EDM into the recommendations diet (and my own personal listening). I’m not the biggest fan in the world of EDM these days, but I do still enjoy house music. I really like this remix of “Symphony” by Clean Bandit ft. Zara Larsson. I enjoy the original song, but Beau Collins adds an extra layer to it with a killer beat:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, July 25

Kris Holt — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Gif by nolimitsocial on Giphy

(Is this GIF relevant? Not really. Did it show up when I searched for “mist”? Somehow, yes. And I find it very funny. So here we are.)

Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to the weekend!

I am all up in my head at the minute — nothing new there, actually. I’m trying to decide what I truly want in the years ahead, beyond one goal that’s been clearly defined for me for a while.

I heard someone say quite some time ago that some of the most boring 20-year-olds they know had their next 40 years all figured out. Then their most interesting 45-year-old acquaintances still didn’t know what they wanted to do. Agewise, I’m closer to the latter group, and I don’t have a clear plan for what’s next. I really should try to figure that out in the near future.

Something that helped me gain valuable perspective on this is a podcast episode I listened to recently. PJ Vogt of Search Engine had a conversation with This American Life host Ira Glass on “how we spend our time. What we devote our life to, and the roads we choose not to take.” A fitting subject for Pastimes! I found the discussion quite illuminating, and perhaps you might too.

Before we begin, a quick note: I won’t have a hints and answers column for you here tomorrow. Sorry about that. I’m behind on some things and need a little extra time to catch up. Thanks for understanding. I’ll be back over at Forbes on Monday.

Also, we have a great little community on Discord, where we chat about NYT Connections, the rest of the NYT games and all kinds of other stuff. Everyone who has joined has been lovely. It’s a fun hangout spot, and you’re more than welcome to join us.

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, July 25 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

STEAK
LEONE
PRIMO
MALL
MADRE
MIST
POKER
CHOKE
CLUB
RAND
TEAR
NAIRA
HIJO
KWANZA
WELL
ABUELA

The level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — keep it in the (Iberian) family
🟩 Green group — uplifting sob story?
🟦 Blue group — to be franc, you might find some people shilling where these are used
🟪 Purple group — pare back to their essences

One Word For Each Connections Group

Be warned: we’re really starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — MADRE
🟩 Green group — WELL
🟦 Blue group — NAIRA
🟪 Purple group — CLUB

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Need some extra help?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — Spanish relatives
🟩 Green group — start to cry, with "up"
🟦 Blue group — African currencies
🟪 Purple group — strip _____

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — Spanish relatives (ABUELA, HIJO, MADRE, PRIMO)
🟩 Green group — start to cry, with "up" (CHOKE, MIST, TEAR, WELL)
🟦 Blue group — African currencies (KWANZA, LEONE, NAIRA, RAND)
🟪 Purple group — strip _____ (CLUB, MALL, POKER, STEAK)

I know just enough Spanish to figure out the yellows, though I wasn't quite sure about PRIMO. TEAR and MIST then helped me get the greens.

RAND brought to mind currencies, and I was able to deduce the blues from there. Once the purples landed on the same line, the category became clear. A regular rainbow today, and one that extends my streak to 510 wins.

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪

That’s all there is to it for today’s Connections clues and answers. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for hints and the solution for future weekend editions of the game. See you over at Forbes for Monday’s game.

P.S. I really need to listen to Violet Grohl’s record, because I really enjoy what I’ve heard from her so far. “Bug in the Cake” is a really solid slice of alt rock that sounds straight out of the ‘90s. It’s good stuff:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!

NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, July 19

Kris Holt — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Gif by tobycooke on Giphy

Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a fantastic weekend so far.

I’m a big fan of Taskmaster but, until recently, I had never watched any of the international versions. A secondary YouTube channel is now uploading one episode from the various international versions per day, so now I’ve always got something new to watch.

The second season of Taskmaster Australia is delightful, just like the first one. But there’s been a bit of a side effect of watching that. My internal monologue has taken on an Aussie accent. It also does the “oh naur” thing when I think “oh no!” I think that’s largely Jenny Tian’s fault (spoiler alert, I suppose):

Discord is also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare (or not-so-rare) occasions that I mess something up. I don’t look at Twitter much.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, July 19 are coming right up.

What Are Today’s Connections Hints?

Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today’s Connections groups, I’ll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.

Today’s 16 words are...

SWITCH
SWIRL
LONG
GAME
POKER
PAIR
FLUSH
STRAIGHT
RELAY
SYNC
DRAIN
FUSE
CONNECT
BREAKER
REFILL
JOIN

And the level one hints for today’s Connections groups are:

🟨 Yellow group — maybe not things you'd see on an F1 track?
🟩 Green group — [YouTube link]

🟦 Blue group — they go after we do
🟪 Purple group — quick looks?

One Word For Each Connections Group

Need some extra help?

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one word for each group.

Today’s Connections word hints are…

🟨 Yellow group — RELAY
🟩 Green group — JOIN
🟦 Blue group — FLUSH
🟪 Purple group — LONG

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

Today’s Connections groups are...

🟨 Yellow group — circuit components
🟩 Green group — digital coupling verbs
🟦 Blue group — things toilets do
🟪 Purple group — _____ face expressions

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

🟨 Yellow group — circuit components (BREAKER, FUSE, RELAY, SWITCH)
🟩 Green group — digital coupling verbs (CONNECT, JOIN, PAIR, SYNC)
🟦 Blue group — things toilets do (DRAIN, FLUSH, REFILL, SWIRL)
🟪 Purple group — _____ face expressions (GAME, LONG, POKER, STRAIGHT)

I got the yellows sorted right away. No problem there. I got the blues swiftly after, once I realized there couldn't really be a group of POKER words. Having three types of hands and POKER on the board didn't add up.

At that point, the greens became clear. FUSE could have fit in there, but I avoided that trap. (I know I've used "2 Become 1" recently, but I couldn't resist.)

That left me with the purples. I thought they'd be "___ night" phrases and didn't see how STRAIGHT would fit in, only to realize how wrong I was after submitting the group.

That extends my streak to 504 wins in a row.

How did you get on this time? Here's my grid:

🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪

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P.S. Another thing I’m a big fan of is The Last of Us. The gorgeous music from Gustavo Santaolalla does so much to set the tone does so much to set the tone of both games. I often think about the haunting main theme, and I find it quite relaxing. So here’s a beautiful live version:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too. Also, subscribe to this newsletter if you haven’t already!