Today’s NYT Connections Hints And Answers: Thursday, September 10

If you’re looking for the September 9 Connections hints and answers, we’ve got you covered right here:

Hey there, Connectors! I hope you’ve had a terrific week so far.

I was catching up with my sister on the phone this week and she was telling me about how things are coming together for her wedding next year. Most of the important elements are taken care of, including the venue, officiant, band, photographer and her dress.

I was pleased to her that she has folks in place to take care of the wedding party’s hair and makeup. I’m not in the wedding party, which I’m totally fine with, but I’m definitely going to try and sneak onto the hair stylist’s schedule anyway. I’d like to look my best for my only sibling’s big day!

Before we start, we’ve got a lovely community on Discord , where we chat about Connections , the rest of the NYT games and all kinds of things. You’re more than welcome to join us!

Also, my weekend editions of this column are available over on my newsletter, Pastimes . I sometimes write about other things that are on my mind there as well.

Today’s NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, September 10 are coming right up. Let’s get rolling!

Connections is a free New York Times daily word game that you can play on the NYT ’s website or Games app. If you have an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the Connections archive, which includes every previous game.

Connections presents you with a grid of 16 words (sometimes phrases, symbols or numbers). The aim is to arrange them into four groups of four. You don’t know how they hit together or what the category for each group is: that’s what you have to figure out.

There’s only one correct solution and there are often red herrings. You can guess incorrectly three times. A fourth wrong guess, and it’s game over.

Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to deduce, followed by green, blue and purple. Often, the yellow and green groups have synonyms, the blues have cultural references and the purples have some kind of wordplay involved. But this is not a hard and fast rule. Be ready for curveballs – part of the fun of Connections is in how the NYT shakes things up to keep you on your toes.

As with Wordle and similar games, it’s easy to share results with your friends using an emoji-based grid. The game tracks your progress too.

Many players take pride in having long win streaks or getting a reverse rainbow – correctly guessing the purple, blue, green and yellow groups in that order with no mistakes. That adds an extra little challenge.

Today’s NYT Connections Word List

After today’s Connections word list, I’ll give you a hint for each category. After that, I’ll reveal one word that goes into each group. Then I’ll reveal the categories, followed by the full answers.

  • CATIO
  • ALTERNATING CURRENT
  • LEAD
  • CLOTHESLINE
  • ATLANTIC CITY
  • REPRESENT
  • AIR CONDITIONER
  • ADULT CONTEMPORARY
  • ACTINIUM
  • SEXTANT
  • BADLANDS
  • SULFUR
  • THUNDER ROAD
  • FLOWER BOX
  • KRYPTON
  • BORN TO RUN

Today’s NYT Connections Hints

The hints for today’s Connections categories are:

  • 🟨 Yellow group — like reading on RuPaul’s Drag Race , these are fundamental
  • 🟩 Green group — you might need to look up to see 'em
  • 🟦 Blue group — from the office of the Boss
  • 🟪 Purple group — not later, though that might be more appropriate

One Answer For Each NYT Connections Group

Be warned: we’re starting to get into spoiler territory.

Let’s take a look at one answer for each group.

  • 🟨 Yellow group — KRYPTON
  • 🟩 Green group — FLOWER BOX
  • 🟦 Blue group — BADLANDS
  • 🟪 Purple group — ALTERNATING CURRENT

Today’s NYT Connections Categories

Today’s Connections groups are...

  • 🟨 Yellow group — chemical elements
  • 🟩 Green group — what you might see sticking out of a window
  • 🟦 Blue group — Bruce Springsteen classics
  • 🟪 Purple group — ending in synonyms for “happening now”

Today’s NYT Connections Answer

Spoiler alert! Don’t scroll any further down the page until you’re ready to find out today’s Connections answers.

This is your last chance to look away.

This is your final warning!

Today’s Connections answers are...

  • 🟨 Yellow group — chemical elements (ACTINIUM, KRYPTON, LEAD, SULFUR)
  • 🟩 Green group — what you might see sticking out of a window (AIR CONDITIONER, CATIO, CLOTHESLINE, FLOWER BOX)
  • 🟦 Blue group — Bruce Springsteen classics (ATLANTIC CITY, BADLANDS, BORN TO RUN, THUNDER ROAD)
  • 🟪 Purple group — ending in synonyms for “happening now” (ADULT CONTEMPORARY, ALTERNATING CURRENT, REPRESENT, SEXTANT)

I wondered whether there might be a group of things that “AC” stands for. I initially had ATLANTIC CITY in there — knowing full well that’s a Springsteen song before realizing that ACTINIUM might have AC as its chemical symbol. I took a guess and struck out. (I guess I’ve just got AC on the brain given that I’m seeing AC/DC this weekend!)

The Springsteen numbers got me the blues and the chemical elements cleared the yellows. AIR CONITIONER and FLOWER BOX are both window things, which helped me figure out the greens.

I did not deduce the purple category. Did I concede defeat or not bother trying? That’s for me to know (okay, I gave up after about 20 seconds). Happy to extend my streak to 557 wins.

How did you get on this time? Here’s my grid:

Want to know more about how everything fits together? Let’s explore today’s game in more depth in my NYT Connections Answers Explained column. You can check that out by visiting my author page .

Be sure to check my blog for hints and the answer for tomorrow’s game of Connections if you need them.

P.S. Let’s go with a Springsteen song that isn’t mentioned here. I’ll save those for Answers Explained. “I’m On Fire” is one of my faves, so that’s the ticket:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and each other! Call someone you love!

Please follow my blog for more NYT Connections hints and help with other word games, and even some video game news, insights and analysis. I’d really appreciate that as it helps me out. If you share this column with others who play Connections, that would be lovely too. You can also read my weekend editions of this column and more of my writing at my newsletter, Pastimes .