Post updated 09/26/26 with correct day’s puzzle!

Another Sunday and another tricky NYT Connections to solve. If you’re looking for help with today’s puzzling NYT Connections puzzle, this guide is here to help with some extra clues and every connection for the Yellow, Blue, Green and Purple groups.

It’s the first Sunday of October so happy October Connectioneers, and happy Autumn! It’s almost Halloween. Crazy.

As always, be sure to also check out my friendly neighborhood streaming guide for some really good TV show and movie recommendations. It’s fall now and the days are getting shorter, the evenings cooler, and it’s the perfect time to solve puzzles and watch some good movies or TV shows – or read some good books, of course.

If you’re looking for Saturday’s Connections guide, it’s right here . You can play today’s Connections here .

NYT Connections Hints And Answers – Sunday, August 23

Below, we’ll get into some extra hints for each Connections group – Yellow, Blue, Green and Purple – and then the official clues and answers.

Here are today’s Connections words:

  • heap
  • gavel
  • partner
  • net
  • wig
  • stack
  • auction
  • paddle
  • collar
  • lot
  • treatment
  • ball
  • robe
  • bunch
  • table
  • film

Here’s an Extra Hint for Each Connections Group

  • 🟡 Yellow group – Much muchness
  • 🟢 Green group – A sports game, in miniature
  • 🔵 Blue group – Order in the court
  • 🟣 Purple group – Ancient (Chinese) history

One Word for Each Connections Group:

  • 🟡 Yellow group – bunch
  • 🟢 Green group – ball
  • 🔵 Blue group – collar
  • 🟣 Purple group – auction

What Are Today’s Connections Groups?

  • Alright, the full spoilers follow here as we get into what the groups are today:
  • 🟡 Yellow group – A large amount
  • 🟢 Green group – Table tennis needs
  • 🔵 Blue group – Parts of a judge costume
  • 🟣 Purple group – Silent ___

What Are Today’s Connections Answers?

  • The full-on answers are below for each group, finally inserting the four words in each category. Spoilers follow . The Connections answers are:
  • 🟡 Yellow group – bunch, heap, lot, stack
  • 🟢 Green group – ball, net, paddle, table
  • 🔵 Blue group – collar, gavel, robe, wig
  • 🟣 Purple group – auction, film, partner, treatment

Here’s the finished puzzle in the order I solved it:'

Today’s NYT Connections is a 1/5 on the Connections Bot difficulty scale though I found it a bit tricky. I blame being tired, my back hurting, sleeping too long and the government for this. The biggest trap in today’s Connections was a hidden auction group. AUCTION, GAVEL, LOT, and PADDLE all belong to an auction: the auctioneer bangs a gavel, items are sold in lots, and bidders raise numbered paddles. Quite the misdirect.

There were smaller overlaps too:

  • FILM and LOT: a studio backlot ties LOT to movies, and a TREATMENT is also a pre-screenplay outline, so the film words could cluster together.
  • STACK and HEAP: both are memory structures in programming, which might suggest a computing theme.
  • PARTNER: this could pull toward the judge group through the legal world, since law firms have partners.
  • BALL and ROBE: a costume ball and a robe could suggest a dress-up or formalwear angle alongside COLLAR and WIG.

Plenty of sneaky traps, in other words, to throw us off the scent.

How’d you do on today’s Connections? Let me know on Twitter , Instagram , or Facebook .s

The NYT Games App has launched new weekly puzzles that are special twists on games like Wordle and Connections. Read all about those right here and check out my interview with the head of NYT Games, Jonathan Knight, in the video below:

Find more guides to Wordle, Pips and Strands on my blog where you can also follow me for TV and movie and video game coverage. Let me know if you have any fun puzzle games in your rotation that I should try on Twitter , Instagram , or Facebook . Have a great Sunday!