If today’s New York Times Connections grid has you burning through your mistakes, you are not alone. Puzzle #1193 features some heavy misdirection, with several words seemingly fitting into a language or food 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 Nickelodeon and Pennywise look like they belong together as entertainment titles, while Frank-n-furter and Widener could be grouped as people or proper names.
Committing to those wrong groups early will cost you chances. We recommend looking at the pattern for each category first. Checking whether a group ends with the name of a metal, starts with a U.S. coin, shares a poet’s middle name, or adds a letter to form a sausage 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: Each word or phrase ends with the name of a metallic element.
- 🟩 Green Group Hint: Every entry begins with the name of a U.S. coin.
- 🟦 Blue Group Hint: These are the middle names of famous poets.
- 🟪 Purple Group Hint: Each word becomes the name of a sausage when you add one letter.
Stuck on one word? If you have Borat, think food item rather than movie character. It belongs to the Purple group today! For the Yellow group, take Latin, the last part of the word spells a well known metal.
⚠️ 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 for September 16, 2026, Wednesday Puzzle #1193
Here are the completed categories and groupings for today’s puzzle:
🟨 Yellow Group: ENDING IN METAL ELEMENTS
- Latin
- Long John Silver
- Marigold
- Steam Iron
🟩 Green Group: STARTING WITH U.S. COINS
- Dimension
- Nickelodeon
- Pennywise
- Quarterback
🟦 Blue Group: POETS’ MIDDLE NAMES
- Barrett
- Carlos
- St. Vincent
- Wadsworth
🟪 Purple Group: SAUSAGES PLUS A LETTER
- Borat
- Clink
- Frank-n-furter
- Widener
Here is my result for today’s puzzle.
Connections
Puzzle #1193
🟨🟨🟨🟪
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟩🟩🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟦🟦🟦
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪
Yesterday’s Answer
This is yesterday’s NYT Connections answer for September 15, 2026, Puzzle #1192.
🟨 Yellow Group: INSTRUCT
🟩 Green Group: PARTS OF A WHISTLING KETTLE
🟦 Blue Group: UNDERCOVER OPERATIVE
🟪 Purple Group: THINGS THAT APPEAR AT THE END
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?
Share your results grid or vent about today’s trickiest crossover words in the comments below.
