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 Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, September 24 (game #1201).
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 #1202) - today's words
Today's NYT Connections words are…
- RATHER
- BOUGIE
- GENIUS
- SPRING
- BORDER
- RATCHET
- SWANK
- SAVAGE
- CLASSY
- LEVY
- PENDULUM
- FANCY
- ESCAPEMENT
- POSH
- FOAMILY
- AYKROYD
NYT Connections today (game #1202) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Classy stuff
- GREEN: Elements of a timepiece
- BLUE: Daniels of note
- PURPLE: Ranked with added character
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 #1202) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: LUXE
- GREEN: PARTS OF A MECHANICAL CLOCK
- BLUE: FAMOUS DANS
- PURPLE: TAXONOMIC RANKS PLUS A LETTER
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #1202) - the answers
The answers to today's Connections, game #1202, are…
- YELLOW: LUXE: BOUGIE, FANCY, POSH, SWANK
- GREEN: PARTS OF A MECHANICAL CLOCK: ESCAPEMENT, PENDULUM, RATCHET, SPRING
- BLUE: FAMOUS DANS: AYKROYD, LEVY, RATHER, SAVAGE
- PURPLE: TAXONOMIC RANKS PLUS A LETTER: BORDER, CLASSY, FOAMILY, GENIUS
- My rating: Hard
- My score: Perfect
The tile AYKROYD surely meant that we were looking for FAMOUS DANS, but after linking LEVY and RATHER I hit a blank, so decided this was a group I would come back to.
Ruling out the possibility that SWANK was about famous Hilarys, I took the obvious path and ended up with the yellow group of LUXE in its rightful place as the first thing I put together.
After this, though, I went off script and guessed the purple group of TAXONOMIC RANKS PLUS A LETTER (when you see them you see them) before returning to my collection of Daniels and taking a punt on SAVAGE, whom I now know is a purveyor of “no-nonsense sex and relationship advice”.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Thursday, September 24, 2026, game #1201)
- YELLOW: PARTS OF A VAMPIRE COSTUME: CAPE, FACE PAINT, FAKE BLOOD, FANGS
- GREEN: THINGS WITH SPRING/S: BOBBLEHEAD, POGO STICK, SNAKES IN A CAN, TRAMPOLINE
- BLUE: FEATURING POINTING: CREATION OF ADAM, FOAM FINGER, I'M WITH STUPID SHIRT, UNCLE SAM
- PURPLE: ANAGRAMS: BEER HAT, BREATHE, HERB TEA, THE BEAR
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 four 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.