If you got excited by the Pokémon-themed words and hastily submitted your first guess in today’s Connections puzzle, you must have been in for a rude awakening. Now that you’ve gotten the red herring out of the way, it is time to focus and get the win in the bag. Out of ideas? We’re here to help you out. As you scroll down, you’ll see some general hints to nudge you in the direction of the answers. This will be followed by the revelation of one word from each category, the list of themes, and finally, the answers. So, let’s dive into all the hints, clues, and answers to today’s NYT Connections (#1,173, August 27, 2026).
Read Also: Motorola rolls out Android 17 for its smartphones, beginning with Signature devices
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
- PIKACHU
- SPUNK
- NEMO
- DOVE
- MISTY
- SLATE
- LIGHTNING
- ASH
- PEWTER
- BROCK
- EMOTIONAL
- LIVE WIRE
- OVERCOME
- ELECTRIC EEL
- WRAP
- CHOKED UP
Hints for NYT Connections (#1,173) August 27, 2026
Let’s get you started with some general, spoiler-free hints.
- 🟡Yellow Group: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
- 🟢Green Group: Sentimental.
- 🔵Blue Group: Different shades of one colour.
- 🟣Purple Group: Ending with a different kind of musical sound.
One Word Per Category (Contains Spoilers)
Can’t seem to find an in? We’ll give you one word from each category.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Electric Eel.
- 🟢Green Group: Choked Up.
- 🔵Blue Group: Ash.
- 🟣Purple Group: Brock.
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: Electric Things.
- 🟢Green Group: Moved To Tears.
- 🔵Blue Group: Shades Of Gray.
- 🟣Purple Group: Music Genre Plus Starting Letter.
Answers to NYT Connections (#1,173) Today (August 27, 2026)
Close to waving the white flag? Fine, we’ll give you the answers.
- 🟡Yellow Group: Electric Eel, Lightning, Live Wire, Pikachu. (Electric Things)
Electric eels stun their prey with electric shocks. A live wire is an electrical wire carrying a current. Pikachu is a lightning-type Pokémon.
- 🟢Green Group: Choked Up, Emotional, Misty, Overcome. (Moved To Tears)
These words are used when someone is overcome with emotion. Misty means misty-eyed, but it also goes with the Pokémon-themed red herring.
- 🔵Blue Group: Ash, Dove, Pewter, Slate. (Shades Of Gray)
Ash was part of the Pokémon-related misdirect. It also goes along with other shades of grey in this group.
- 🟣Purple Group: Brock, Nemo, Spunk, Wrap. (Music Genre Plus Starting Letter)
B-Rock, N-Emo, S-Punk, W-Rap. Brock was part of the Pokémon red herring.
Answers to yesterday’s puzzle (#1,172, August 26, 2026)
- 🟡Yellow Group: Behold, Presto, Shazam, Voila. (“There You Have It!”)
- 🟢Green Group: Forte, Gift, Strength, Talent. (Knack)
- 🔵Blue Group: Page, Park, Phosphorus, Piano. (What ‘P’ Might Stand For)
- 🟣Purple Group: Chain, Largo, Lime, Signature. (Key ____)
Answers to NYT Connections #1,171 (August 25, 2026)
- 🟡Yellow Group: Cosmetic, One-Dimensional, Skin-Deep, Superficial. (Surface-Level)
- 🟢Green Group: Hyperspace, Parallel Universe, Teleportation, Time Warp. (Sci-Fi Phenomena)
- 🔵Blue Group: Green Mile, Long Walk, Running Man, Shawshank Redemption. (Stephen King Film Adaptation, With ‘The’)
- 🟣Purple Group: Harlem Shake, Inside Scoop, Lickety-Split, Traffic Cone. (Ending In Ice Cream Orders)
Answers to NYT Connections #1,170 (August 24, 2026)
- 🟡Yellow Group: Mullet, Pike, Sole, Tang. (Fish)
- 🟢Green Group: Arch, Chief, Main, Prime. (Principal)
- 🔵Blue Group: Face, Heel, Jobber, Kayfabe. (Pro-Wrestling Lingo)
- 🟣Purple Group: Beset, Deserve, Ex-Love, Eyelet. (Letter Homophone Plus Tennis Term)
Read Also: Nothing OS 5.0 Introduced with 80+ updates and AI features: Availability details
How did other Connectors do today?
NYT’s early testers rated today’s Connections puzzle 1.7 out of 5. This puts it in the easy difficulty level. Let us know how you fared in the comments!
.){kind=link}