If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Tuesday, September 5, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for September 5, NYT Connections #86! Scroll to the end if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.
By the way, if you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.
How to play Connections
Table of Contents
I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:
First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).
Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.
You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.
How to win Connections
The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.
If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.
Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints. Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And further down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!
Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?
There are some musical references, but the rest are all simple words with, mostly, obvious meanings.
Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle
Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:
- Yellow category – Infographic enthusiasts will love these.
- Green category – Everybody will love these.
- Blue category – You’ll remember feeling…stuffed.
- Purple category – You’ll recognize these from the jukebox (or record store) (or wherever kids listen to music these days).
Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?
The purple category does, in a sense. It’s still solvable even if you don’t pick up on the exact thing these four have in common. (I didn’t!)
Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.
BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!
We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)
What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?
What are the categories in today’s Connections?
- Yellow: INFORMATION DISPLAYS
- Green: ADDITIONAL BENEFIT
- Blue: THANKSGIVING FOOD
- Purple: SONG TITLES WITH PARENTHESES
DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW
Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.
What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?
The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is INFORMATION DISPLAYS and the words are: CHART, DIAGRAM, GRAPH, MAP.
What are the green words in today’s Connections?
The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is ADDITIONAL BENEFIT and the words are: BONUS, EXTRA, ICING, PERK.
What are the blue words in today’s Connections?
The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is THANKSGIVING FOOD and the words are: GRAVY, PIE, STUFFING, TURKEY.
What are the purple words in today’s Connections?
The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is SONG TITLES WITH PARENTHESES and the words are: I RAN, ISTANBUL, MONTERO, SATISFACTION.
How I solved today’s Connections
I saw the Thanksgiving food first; clearly PIE went here instead of with CHART, and TURKEY, GRAVY, and STUFFING had to go with it.
That meant CHART likely went with DIAGRAM, GRAPH, AND MAP, so that was my next hit.
Four of the remaining words were clearly song titles, but I wasn’t sure what they had in common. They turn out to be song titles with parentheses, namely:
- (I Can’t Get No) SATISFACTION
- I RAN (So Far Away)
- MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)
- ISTANBUL (Not Constantinople)
The remaining four words just were the ICING on the cake (with BONUS, EXTRA, PERK).
Connections
Puzzle #86
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