The NYT Connections puzzle for 19 September 2026, edition #1196, offered a mix of gentle wordplay and a trickier finish that rewarded a good memory for maths terms. The daily game, published by The New York Times, challenges players to sort a grid of 16 words into four groups of four, with each group linked by a shared theme.
In Connections, the difficulty lies in the overlap: several words look as though they could belong to more than one category, so the most obvious grouping is often a trap. Puzzlers work through the grid one set at a time until all 16 words have been correctly arranged into their four hidden themes.
Hints for today’s Connections groups
Four hints follow, ordered from the most approachable yellow group through to the sometimes offbeat purple group.
Yellow group hint: Think more broadly.
Green group hint: Often made with crayons.
Blue group hint: Place to be in 1966.
Purple group hint: Maths that isn’t quite maths.
The yellow theme was widen one’s scope, while the green group focused on features of a child’s drawing. The blue group drew on the era of swinging London in the 1960s, and the purple group played on words beginning with abbreviated maths functions.
Today’s Connections answers in full
The yellow group, themed “widen one’s scope”, contained brand out, diversify, expand and grow.
The green group, themed “features of a kid’s drawing”, featured house, stick figure, sun and tree.
The blue group, themed “associated with swinging London in the 1960s”, included Carnaby Street, miniskirt, mod and Twiggy.
The purple group, themed “starting with abbreviated maths functions”, combined cos lettuce, log cabin, Sin City and tan line.
Players can review their performance using the Connections Bot, which assigns a numeric score and analyses each guess. Those registered with the Times Games section can also track their statistics, including puzzles completed, win rate, number of perfect scores and current win streak.
