Halfway through your day and haven’t cracked today’s Connections puzzle yet? It’s time to lock in and get this win. To help make the job easy for you, we’ll give you some general hints to nudge you in the direction of the answers. Then, we’ll give you one word from each category, followed by the list of themes. Finally, the answers and explanations will be waiting for you at the end of the page. So, let’s dive into all the hints, clues, and answers to NYT Connections today (#1,167, August 21, 2026).
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In This Article
What is Connections?
The New York Times has a thriving online word game section, with Connections being the second-most-played title behind the crown jewel, Wordle. The rules of this game are simple – you need to find 4 groups comprising 4 words each in a 16-word grid. The words in each group are united by a common theme. The Yellow group is the easiest one to spot, followed by Green, Blue, and Purple (toughest). Sometimes, there are red herrings and misdirects in the grid to throw you off your game, so don’t take your thinking cap off at any time! Ready to lock in? You can play Connections in the NYT Games app or on the NYT website.
Here’s your grid for today
- WIMPY
- WHILE
- SLEEP
- GENERATION
- LIFETIME
- ACTION
- OXYGEN
- COMEBACK
- SHOWTIME
- KARATE
- SUNDANCE
- PLACES
- WATER
- BLUEMOON
- CURTAIN UP
- NUTRITION
Hints for NYT Connections (#1,167) August 21, 2026
Let’s get you started with some general, spoiler-free hints.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Essential for survival.
- 🟢Green Group: Yelled before the group goes live.
- 🔵Blue Group: Succeeded by a common word which is often used to refer to a child.
- 🟣Purple Group: Words in phrases talking about the frequency of occurrence or things and events.
One Word Per Category (Contains Spoilers)
Can’t seem to find an in? We’ll give you one word from each category.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Nutrition.
- 🟢Green Group: Action.
- 🔵Blue Group: Comeback.
- 🟣Purple Group: Blue Moon.
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: Things Most Animals Need.
- 🟢Green Group: Calls To Begin A Performance.
- 🔵Blue Group: ___ Kids.
- 🟣Purple Group: Once In A ___.
Answers to NYT Connections (#1,167) Today (August 21, 2026)
Close to waving the white flag? Fine, we’ll give you the answers.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Nutrition, Oxygen, Sleep, Water. (Things Most Animals Need)
These things are necessary for most animals to survive on Earth.
- 🟢Green Group: Action, Curtain Up, Places, Showtime. (Calls To Begin A Performance)
‘Action’ is a call used in movie sets to kickstart a scene. ‘Curtain Up’ is used in theatre to let the artists know that the curtain is about to go up. ‘Places’ is yelled by the stage manager to alert everyone to take their places on stage. ‘Showtime’ is a general saying (usually, ‘It’s Showtime’) to let everyone know that it’s time to begin performing.
- 🔵Blue Group: Comeback, Karate, Sundance, Wimpy. (___ Kids)
Comeback Kid: Used to refer to kids who overcome adversity to achieve success. May also refer to the movie The Comeback Kid (1980). Karate Kid: Referring to the movie, The Karate Kid (1984). Sundance Kid: Name given to outlaw and American cowboy, Harry Alonzo Longabaugh. Wimpy Kid: Referring to The Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2007).
- 🟣Purple Group: Blue Moon, Generation, Lifetime, While. (Once In A ___)
These words are parts of phrases that begin with ‘Once in a’, and are used to describe things that happen very rarely. ‘While’ is the exception in this category, as ‘Once in a while’ is used to describe things or events that happen often.
Answers to yesterday’s puzzle (#1,166, August 20, 2026)
- 🟡Yellow Group: Diavola, Hawaiian, Meat Lovers, White. (Kinds Of Pizza)
- 🟢Green Group: Atomic, Serial, Social Security, Telephone. (Kinds Of Numbers)
- 🔵Blue Group: Apostrophe, Cedilla, Comma, Okina. (Similarly Shaped Typographical Marks)
- 🟣Purple Group: Dragonfly, Oxford, Pigment, Ratchet. (Starting With Chinese Zodiac Animals)
Answers to NYT Connections #1,165 (August 19, 2026)
- 🟡Yellow Group: Breeze, Cinch, Picnic, Snap. (Piece Of Cake)
- 🟢Green Group: Blanket, Hide, Mask, Obscure. (Conceal)
- 🔵Blue Group: Base, Basket, Foot, Pickle. (Words Before “Ball” In Sports Names)
- 🟣Purple Group: Ants, Cocoa, Rheo, Seoul. (Homophones Of CGI-Animated Films)
Answers to NYT Connections #1,164 (August 18, 2026)
- 🟡Yellow Group: Limousine, Paparazzi, Red Carpet, Velvet Rope. (Seen At A Movie Premiere)
- 🟢Green Group: Petroleum Jelly, Poetic Justice, Practical Joke, Private Jet. (PJs)
- 🔵Blue Group: Basketball, Orangutan, Sweet Potato, Traffic Cone. (Things That Are Orange)
- 🟣Purple Group: Cowboy Coffee, Film Noir, Flyers Mascot, Sandpaper. (Things That Are Gritty)
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How did other solvers do today?
NYT’s early testers rated today’s Connections puzzle 2 out of 5. This puts it in the medium difficulty level. Let us know how you fared in the comments!
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