Jump to:

NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, March 3 (game #996)

News
By published

My clues will help you solve the NYT's Connections puzzle today and keep that streak going

NYT Connections homescreen on a phone, on a purple background
(Image credit: New York Times)
Jump to:
Looking for a different day?

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 Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, March 2 (game #995).

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.

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 #996) - today's words

NYT Connections hints for game 996 on a purple background

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

  • APPLE
  • HANGER
  • FLEETWOOD
  • MAC
  • FLANK
  • BROTHER
  • BRISKET
  • HOOK
  • TOUCH
  • SHELF
  • FASTIDIOUS
  • NEIGHBOR
  • ROD
  • ABUT
  • DIPPER
  • QUICKSAND

NYT Connections today (game #996) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

  • YELLOW: Go large
  • GREEN:  Next to
  • BLUE: Open the wardrobe
  • PURPLE: Half as swift

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 #996) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

  • YELLOW: "BIG" THINGS
  • GREEN: BE ADJACENT TO
  • BLUE: SEEN IN A CLOSET
  • PURPLE: STARTING WITH SYNONYMS FOR "SPEEDY"

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #996) - the answers

NYT Connections answers for game 996 on a purple background

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #996, are…

  • YELLOW: "BIG" THINGS APPLE, BROTHER, DIPPER, MAC
  • GREEN: BE ADJACENT TO ABUT, FLANK, NEIGHBOR, TOUCH
  • BLUE: SEEN IN A CLOSET HANGER, HOOK, ROD, SHELF
  • PURPLE: STARTING WITH SYNONYMS FOR "SPEEDY" BRISKET, FASTIDIOUS, FLEETWOOD, QUICKSAND
  • My rating: Easy
  • My score: Perfect

Skipping the obvious red herring of FLEETWOOD MAC, I spotted four words for BIG — BROTHER, APPLE, DIPPER and MAC.

This proved to be the yellow group, which was a nice start, albeit one that was a little worrying given that it was the easiest and things were only going to get harder; if it had been green, I would have been happier.

Next, I focused on ABUT, simply because it's an uncommon word that doesn't go with many other things. FLANK, NEIGHBOR and TOUCH were obvious additions once I scanned the board properly, and I had green.

With eight left, I was initially stumped — but focused on FLEETWOOD, because the name of either a British golfer or British town didn't appear to go with anything else.

And then: inspiration! I noticed that it was two words shoved together, and that FLEET would go with the QUICK from QUICKSAND, the BRISK from BRISKET and the FAST from FASTIDIOUS to make STARTING WITH SYNONYMS FOR "SPEEDY". That was purple and my job was done.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, March 2, game #995)

  • YELLOW: GYMNASTICS APPARATUS BEAM, HORSE, RINGS, VAULT
  • GREEN: STATUS POSITION, RANK, STANDING, STATION
  • BLUE: BASEBALL CALLS BALL, FOUL, SAFE, STRIKE
  • PURPLE: ______CHICKEN FUNKY, POPCORN, RUBBER, SPRING

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.

Marc McLaren
Marc McLaren
Global Editor in Chief

Marc is TechRadar’s Global Editor in Chief, the latest in a long line of senior editorial roles he’s held in a career that started the week that Google launched (nice of them to mark the occasion). Prior to joining TR, he was UK Editor in Chief on Tom’s Guide, where he oversaw all gaming, streaming, audio, TV, entertainment, how-to and cameras coverage. He's also a former editor of the tech website Stuff and spent five years at the music magazine NME, where his duties mainly involved spoiling other people’s fun. He’s based in London, and has tested and written about phones, tablets, wearables, streaming boxes, smart home devices, Bluetooth speakers, headphones, games, TVs, cameras and pretty much every other type of gadget you can think of. An avid photographer, Marc likes nothing better than taking pictures of very small things (bugs, his daughters) or very big things (distant galaxies). He also enjoys live music, gaming, cycling, and beating Wordle (he authors the daily Wordle today page).

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Back To Top