NYT Connections (#1,199) Guide: Hints, Clues, and Answers Today (September 22, 2026)

If you can’t find a breakthrough in today’s Connections puzzle, you’ve landed on the right page. We’ve curated some spoiler-free hints to nudge you in the right direction without giving anything away. Those who need more help can look at one word from each category and the list of themes. If you’re just trying to save your streak, you can skip to the answers. So, without further ado, here are all the hints, clues, and answers to NYT Connections today (#1,199, September 22, 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

• THIS
• THAT
• THE
• OTHER
• CAFE
• PATRON
• AGREE
• ACCENT
• TOUCH
• THOSE
• ROSE
• NEUTRAL
• DETAIL
• DISAGREE
• THESE
• FLOURISH

Hints for NYT Connections (#1,199) September 22, 2026

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

• 🟡Yellow Group: Words you use while pointing at something.
• 🟢Green Group: Highlight.
• 🔵Blue Group: Your reaction to an opinion.
• 🟣Purple Group: Drinks with a slight tweak.

One Word Per Category (Contains Spoilers)

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

• 🟡Yellow Group: That.
• 🟢Green Group: Accent.
• 🔵Blue Group: Agree.
• 🟣Purple Group: Cafe.

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: Demonstratives.
• 🟢Green Group: Embellishment.
• 🔵Blue Group: Options On A Multiple Choice Survey.
• 🟣Purple Group: Beverages With Acute Accents Removed.

Answers to NYT Connections (#1,199) Today (September 22, 2026)

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

• 🟡Yellow Group: That, These, This, Those. (Demonstratives)

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Demonstratives are words used to point to people and things.

• 🟢Green Group: Accent, Detail, Flourish, Touch. (Embellishment)

These words are used to describe the fine touches applied to an object or a project.

• 🔵Blue Group: Agree, Disagree, Neutral, Other. (Options On A Multiple Choice Survey)

Surveys and focus groups use these options to measure where an audience lands on specific subjects. 

• 🟣Purple Group: Cafe, Patron, Rose, The. (Beverages With Acute Accents Removed) 

Café (Coffee), Patrón (Tequila), Rosé (Wine), Thé (Tea).

Answers to yesterday’s puzzle (#1,198, September 21, 2026)

• Yellow Group: Compose, Drafts, Sent, Spam. (Email Buttons)
• Green Group: Chum, Fly, Spinner, Worm. (Ways To Attract Fish)
• Blue Group: Capture, Castle, Check, Mate. (Chess Verbs)
• Purple Group: Beet, Brah, Chop, Viva. (Starts Of Composers’ Names)

Answers to NYT Connections #1,197 (September 20, 2026)

• Yellow Group: Blu-Ray, Coaster, Sand Dollar, Tortilla. (Round Flat Things)
• Green Group: Bluegrass, Bourbon, Derby, Fried Chicken. (Associated With Kentucky) 
• Blue Group: Blade, Near Dark, Sinners, Twilight. (Vampire Movies)
• Purple Group: Hover, Skate, Snow, Surf. (___ Boards You Ride On)

Answers to NYT Connections #1,196 (September 19, 2026)

• Yellow Group: Branch Out, Diversify, Expand, Grow. (Widen One’s Scope)
• Green Group: House, Stick Figure, Sun, Tree. (Features Of A Kid’s Drawing)
• Blue Group: Carnaby Street, Miniskirt, Mod, Twiggy. (Associated With Swinging London In The 1960s)
• Purple Group: Cos Lettuce, Log Cabin, Sin City, Tan Line. (Starting With Abbreviated Math Functions)

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How did other Connectors do today?

NYT’s early testers rated today’s Connections puzzle 2.6 out of 5. This puts it in the medium difficulty level. Let us know how you fared in the comments!