If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Tuesday, September 26, 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 26, NYT Connections #107! 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
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’s a reference to a 1990’s movie, although the title is also a supposedly common phrase, so you may not need to know the movie specifically. Some zoological knowledge would also help you today.
Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle
Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:
- Yellow category – These are very long.
- Green category – And these are very short.
- Blue category – These go underneath.
- Purple category – And these are all-encompassing.
Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?
There’s one fill-in-the-blank category. The rest are based on the meanings of the words.
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?
- A BOA can be a decorative scarf made of feathers, or one of several large, nonvenomous, tropical snakes.
- A PYTHON can be a family of constricting snakes (like the cuddly ball python, commonly kept as a pet, or the Burmese python, one of the largest snakes in the world). It is also a programming language.
- A BRIEF can be an adjective referring to something of short duration, or a legal document that summarizes a case. It can also be underpants.
- TEDDY can be a person’s name, or a stuffed bear, or a bodysuit worn as lingerie.
- MONTY is also a name. It may also bring to mind the comedic troupe Monty Python, or the 1997 film The Full Monty.
What are the categories in today’s Connections?
- Yellow: SNAKES
- Green: LINGERIE
- Blue: SUMMARY
- Purple: FULL ____
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 SNAKES and the words are: BOA, MAMBA, PYTHON, VIPER.
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 LINGERIE and the words are: GARTER, SLIP, TEDDY, THONG.
What are the blue words in today’s Connections?
The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is SUMMARY and the words are: ABSTRACT, BRIEF, DIGEST, RUNDOWN.
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 FULL ____ and the words are: CIRCLE, HOUSE, MONTY, MOON.
How I solved today’s Connections
Don’t get distracted by MONTY PYTHON, I told myself (after, admittedly, checking to see that FLYING and CIRCUS weren’t on the board, nor HOLY and GRAIL.) PYTHON could be either a programming language or a snake, and look—there are BOA, MAMBA, and VIPER, all fellow members of the suborder Serpentes.
The next thing that stood out to me were all the lingerie words, but there were too many. BRIEF, though, could go with DIGEST, RUNDOWN, and ABSTRACT for a group of summaries. Now we’re down to only four lingerie words—TEDDY, THONG, SLIP, GARTER. (I realize now that GARTER snake might be a confounder. But a garter is a common name of a particular snake species, as opposed to boas and pythons and the rest, which are groupings of different types of snakes. I’m glad the puzzle’s creator agreed with me on that, and/or that I lucked out.)
Once I saw the final four, the theme was obvious—rather than referring to the Monty Python comedy troupe, MONTY refers to the phrase or perhaps the 1997 film Full Monty, a heartwarming buddy comedy about a bunch of unemployed friends bringing their community together with a striptease act. (It’s funny because they’re men, you see.) Full MONTY joins full MOON, full CIRCLE, and Full HOUSE—whether that last one is the TV show or the hand of cards.
Connections
Puzzle #107
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