A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, September 18 (game #1195).
Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.
What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (game #1196) - today's words
Today's NYT Connections words are…
- STICK FIGURE
- MINISKIRT
- LOG CABIN
- SUN
- TAN LINE
- BRANCH OUT
- HOUSE
- TWIGGY
- TREE
- MOD
- SIN CITY
- GROW
- COS LETTUCE
- EXPAND
- CARNABY STREET
- DIVERSIFY
NYT Connections today (game #1196) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Broaden one’s horizons
- GREEN: Classic early art
- BLUE: Cool Britannia (part 1)
- PURPLE: Beginning formulas
Need more clues?
We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #1196) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: WIDEN ONE'S SCOPE
- GREEN: FEATURES OF A KID'S DRAWING
- BLUE: ASSOCIATED WITH SWINGING LONDON IN THE 1960S
- PURPLE: STARTING WITH ABBREVIATED MATH FUNCTIONS
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #1196) - the answers
The answers to today's Connections, game #1196, are…
- YELLOW: WIDEN ONE'S SCOPE: BRANCH OUT, DIVERSIFY, EXPAND, GROW
- GREEN: FEATURES OF A KID'S DRAWING: HOUSE, STICK FIGURE, SUN, TREE
- BLUE: ASSOCIATED WITH SWINGING LONDON IN THE 1960S: CARNABY STREET, MINISKIRT, MOD, TWIGGY
- PURPLE: STARTING WITH ABBREVIATED MATH FUNCTIONS: COS LETTUCE, LOG CABIN, SIN CITY, TAN LINE
- My rating: Hard
- My score: 1 mistake
I fell straight down today’s trapdoor linking STICK FIGURE, BRANCH OUT, LOG CABIN and TWIGGY.
Had I looked at the board a bit more carefully I would have spotted that TWIGGY had to be connected to the famously skinny model and the other tiles ASSOCIATED WITH SWINGING LONDON IN THE 1960S. Alas, fools rush in.
Fortunately this was a relatively easy game and I was thankfully able to collect WIDEN ONE’S SCOPE and FEATURES OF A KID'S DRAWING, as STARTING WITH ABBREVIATED MATH FUNCTIONS went way above my head.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, September 18, 2026, game #1195)
- YELLOW: SEGMENT OF A PROCESS: PHASE, ROUND, STAGE, STEP
- GREEN: ASSORTMENTS OF FOOD/DRINK: FLIGHT, MEDLEY, PLATTER, SAMPLER
- BLUE: PARTS OF A FLIGHT: BOARDING, CRUISE, LANDING, TAKEOFF
- PURPLE: ____ CASE: BRIEF, PILLOW, STAIR, UPPER
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to three mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.