If today’s New York Times Connections grid has you burning through your mistakes, you are not alone. Puzzle #1161 features some heavy misdirection, with several words seemingly fitting into a medical or sports theme before pulling the rug out from under you.
Below are strategic, spoiler-free hints to help you group today’s words on your own, followed by the exact categories and answers at the bottom of the page.
Today’s Connections Strategy & Commentary
Watch out for the red herrings today. At first glance, words like Leg and Stage look like they belong together as parts of a journey, while Chamomile and Lanyard could easily be mistaken for everyday objects or items. Committing to those wrong groups early will cost you lives. We recommend looking at how each word ends rather than its literal meaning. Focusing on suffixes and hidden word parts will make the remaining words much easier to sort.
Connections Hints Today: Category Clues
If you just need a nudge to get your brain moving in the right direction, here are clues for the four color-coded groups:
- 🟨 Yellow Group Hint (Easiest): Words that all mean completely drained or worn out.
- 🟩 Green Group Hint (Medium): Words that each mean a distinct part or portion of something larger.
- 🟦 Blue Group Hint (Hard): Words that all end with a unit of measurement for length.
- 🟪 Purple Group Hint (Tricky): Words that each end with a word meaning to follow someone secretly or quietly.
Stuck on one word? If you have Grinch, try reading it as two separate words rather than a character name. It might belong to the trickier Blue group today!
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: The full answers are listed below. If you still want to solve the grid yourself using the clues above, do not scroll down.
NYT Connections Answers Today
Here are the completed categories and groupings for today’s puzzle:
🟨 Yellow Group: Exhausted
- Beat
- Fried
- Spent
- Worn Out
🟩 Green Group: Segment
- Leg
- Phase
- Stage
- Stretch
🟦 Blue Group: Ending In Units Of Length
- Chamomile
- Grinch
- Hotfoot
- Lanyard
🟪 Purple Group: Ending In Synonyms For Follow Secretly
- Beanstalk
- Eyeshadow
- Hightail
- Soundtrack
Previous Answer
Connections Answer for August 14, 2026 (Puzzle #1160): Black-And-Yellow, Places Where Everyone Thinks The Same Way, Comic Book Artist’s Tools, Triangle Logos
For a complete list, visit our NYT Connections archive.
Try Today’s Other NYT Games Solutions
Keep your winning streak alive across the entire NYT Games ecosystem. Check out our daily guides for today’s other popular puzzles like Wordle and NYT Strands solutions.
Did today’s puzzle give you a perfect “Reverse Rainbow” (solving Purple to Yellow), or did the tricky ending word groups wipe out your board?
Share your results grid or vent about today’s trickiest crossover words in the comments below!
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