NYT Connections (#1,163) Hints and Answers to Get Your First Win of the Week (August 17, 2026)

Exhausted your first attempt on the zoom-related misdirect in today’s Connections puzzle? It’s time to lock in and crack the code before you run out of chances. We’re here to help if things get tricky. As you scroll down, you’ll see the spoiler-free hints we’ve curated for you. After that, we’ll give you one word from each category followed by the list of themes. Finally, you will find the answers and their explanations at the end of the page. Here are all the hints, clues, and answers you need to solve NYT Connections today (#1,163, August 17, 2026).

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What is Connections?

After Wordle, Connections is the New York Times’ most popular word game. The rules are simple. You need to find words with a common theme and group them into 4 groups of 4. The 16-word grid is designed with an increasing level of difficulty. The Yellow group is the easiest to spot, followed by Green, Blue, and Purple. The misdirects and red herrings can trip you up, but they also make the puzzle more fun. You can play Connections in the NYT Games app or on the NYT website.

Some tips to solve Connections

Look for the obvious patterns: Not every category in the puzzle is confusing. The Yellow and Green category words are relatively easy to spot. However, if something seems too obvious, it could be a red herring. Typically, the first two categories comprise verbs and adjectives. The misdirects are often nouns.

Double-check your submissions: ‘Do not overthink’ is usually a good tip for solving most puzzles, but it doesn’t really apply to Connections. Before submitting a set of words, you should always check whether they fit somewhere else too.

Hit a dead end? Use the shuffle button: The shuffle button at the bottom of the grid exists for a reason. Placing the words in different positions can spark new connections. Think of it as a mental refresh. New patterns will emerge, and you may be able to find a breakthrough.

Tackle the Purple category with extra caution: The Connections team is known to serve up the toughest and most unexpected words for the Purple category. Here are some of the common tropes that you should look out for:

• Homophones (For example: ‘Where’, ‘Wear’, ‘Ware’, and ‘Weir’)
• Words within words (For example: ‘Slip’, ‘Hear’, ‘Keyes’, and ‘Undiagnosed’ could be ‘Words containing parts of the face’)
• Words minus a letter (For example: ‘Anther’, ‘Easel’, ‘Hark’, and ‘Lama’ could be ‘Animals minus starting letter’)
• Words preceded or followed by another word (For example: ‘Face’, ‘Sports’, ‘Note’, and ‘Year’ could be ‘____ Book’)

Here’s your grid for today

• MACRO
• MEET
• DOLLY
• DOGIE
• ZOOM
• CATTLE
• FISHEYE
• SCRIPT
• WILLIE
• BIRDIE
• PATSY
• FUNCTION
• HUDDLE
• FORMULA
• JOHNNY
• TEAMS

Hints for NYT Connections (#1,163) August 17, 2026

Let’s get you started with some general, spoiler-free hints.

• 🟡Yellow Group: You use them to attend virtual meetings.
• 🟢Green Group: Google Sheets and MS Excel have these.
• 🔵Blue Group: Country roads, take me home!
• 🟣Purple Group: Starting with an animal.

One Word Per Category (Contains Spoilers)

Can’t seem to find an in? We’ll give you one word from each category.

• 🟡Yellow Group: Huddle.
• 🟢Green Group: Formula.
• 🔵Blue Group: Dolly.
• 🟣Purple Group: Birdie.

List of Themes (Major Spoilers)

Maybe getting to know the common themes among the words will help you spot them faster. Here are all the categories for today.

• 🟡Yellow Group: Video Call Platforms.
• 🟢Green Group: Spreadsheet Features.
• 🔵Blue Group: First Name Of Country Music Legends.
• 🟣Purple Group: Starting With Pets.

Answers to NYT Connections (#1,163) Today (August 17, 2026)

Close to waving the white flag? Fine, we’ll give you the answers.

• 🟡Yellow Group: Huddle, Meet, Teams, Zoom. (Video Call Platforms)

Today’s Yellow group was the easiest one to spot, but ‘Huddle’ may have tripped some users up, as it is not as popular as the other apps in the group.

• 🟢Green Group: Formula, Function, Macro, Script. (Spreadsheet Features)

These are some of the common and essential features in any spreadsheet software like Google Sheets and MS Excel.

• 🔵Blue Group: Dolly, Johnny, Patsy, Willie. (First Names Of Country Music Legends)

Dolly Parton. Johnny Cash. Patsy Cline. Willie Nelson.

• 🟣Purple Group: Birdie, Cattle, Dogie, Fisheye. (Starting With Pets)

Bird-die. Cat-tle. Dog-ie. Fish-eye.

Answers to yesterday’s puzzle (#1,162, August 16, 2026)

• 🟡Yellow Group: Concert, Gig, Set, Show. (Musical Performance)
• 🟢Green Group: Actor, Agent, Party, Player. (Participant)
• 🔵Blue Group: Grand, Great, Half, Step. (Family Relationship Modifiers)
• 🟣Purple Group: From Neander, Handy, Upright, Wise. (Descriptors For Our Human Ancestors)

Answers to NYT Connections #1,161 (August 15, 2026)

• 🟡Yellow Group: Beat, Fried, Spent, Worn Out. (Exhausted)
• 🟢Green Group: Leg, Phase, Stage, Stretch. (Segment)
• 🔵Blue Group: Chamomile, Grinch, Hotfoot, Lanyard. (Ending In Units Of Length)
• 🟣Purple Group: Beanstalk, Eyeshadow, Hightail, Soundtrack. (Ending In Synonyms For Follow Secretly)

Answers to NYT Connections #1,160 (August 14, 2026)

• 🟡Yellow Group: Bumblebee, Caution Tape, Charlie Brown, Wolverine. (Black-and-Yellow)
• 🟢Green Group: Bubble, Echo Chamber, Hivemind, Silo. (Places Where Everyone Thinks The Same Ways)
• 🔵Blue Group: Bristol Board, Dip Pen, India Ink, Straightedge. (Comic Book Artist’s Tools)
• 🟣Purple Group: Bass Ale, Citgo, Delta Airlines, Google Drive. (Triangle Logos)

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How did other solvers do today?

NYT’s early testers rated today’s Connections puzzle 1.8 out of 5. This puts it in the easy difficulty level. Let us know how you fared in the comments!