NYT Connections Hints & Answers Today: September 13, 2026 (Puzzle #1190)

If today’s New York Times Connections grid has you burning through your mistakes, you are not alone. Puzzle #1190 features some heavy misdirection, with several words seemingly fitting into a description or name theme before pulling the rug out from under you.

Here are helpful hints to guide you through today’s puzzle, with the full answers listed further down.

Today’s Connections Strategy & Commentary

Watch out for the red herrings today. At first glance, words like Slack and Excess look like they belong together as general terms for abundance, while Madison and Porridge could easily be sorted as food or place names.

Committing to those wrong groups early will cost you chances. We recommend looking at the pattern for each category first. Checking whether a phrase describes something that lacks firmness, former U.S. leaders, words pronounced exactly like a pair of letters, or terms ending with a type of raised landform 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): Not stiff, firm, or taut.
• 🟩 Green Group Hint (Medium): People who have served as President of the United States.
• 🟦 Blue Group Hint (Hard): When spoken aloud, each word sounds exactly like two letters of the alphabet said together.
• 🟪 Purple Group Hint (Tricky): The last part of each word names a type of elevated landform.

Stuck on one word? If you have Slack, think limp or loose rather than messaging software. It belongs to the Yellow group today! For the Purple group, take Heathcliff, the second half names a steep or raised piece of ground.

⚠️ 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 for September 13, 2026, Sunday Puzzle #1190

Here are the completed categories and groupings for today’s puzzle:

Yesterday’s Answer

This is yesterday’s NYT Connections answer for September 12, 2026, Puzzle #1189.

🟨 Yellow Group: WAYS TO PERSONALIZE A CAR
🟩 Green Group: PEOPLE IN AN ONLINE FORUM
🟦 Blue Group: THINGS THAT BLINK
🟪 Purple Group: _ ALERT

For older solutions, see our Connections answers archive.

How did you do?

Did today’s puzzle give you a perfect Reverse Rainbow or did the tricky categories wipe out your board?

Here are my results for Puzzle #1190.
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟪🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟪🟦
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪

Share your results grid or vent about today’s trickiest crossover words in the comments below.