Note : Make sure to complete today’s NYT Connections before reading further! We’ll be getting into spoilers for today’s game pretty quickly. If you need some help to complete the grid, you can find my NYT Connections hints and answers column for today right here:

Hey there, Connectors! Welcome to my deeper dive into today’s Connections answers. The idea behind this is to help clear things up for anyone who isn’t sure how today’s groups fit together.

If I’ve missed any red herrings or misunderstood something, let me know via email or on Discord . I don’t typically look at X or check the comments here.

I’m going to assume that you’ve already beaten today’s game. We’re going straight into spoiler territory here. So, consider this your one and only warning .

Here are today’s NYT Connections answers explained (and any red herrings I spot) for Monday, September 7:

Today’s NYT Connections Answers Explained

Connections – Yellow Group

🟨 quite the saga (FABRICATION, FISH STORY, TALL TALE, YARN)

These all refer to made-up or highly exaggerated stories.

Connections – Green Group

🟩 parts of a bra (CUP, HOOK, STRAP, UNDERWIRE)

No need to go into detail here, I don’t think. The category title has things handled for us.

🟦 associated with pine trees (CAR AIR FRESHENER, CHRISTMAS, NEEDLES, TURPENTINE)

Some CAR AIR FRESHENERs are shaped like pine trees:

Those trees are often used as CHRISTMAS trees, but can leave your floor rather messy when they shed their NEEDLES.

TURPENTINE is a solvent that’s made from tree resin, especially from pine trees.

Connections – Purple Group

🟪 starting with Disney characters (PLUTONIUM, SCAR TISSUE, STITCH MARKER, TRAMPOLINE)

PLUTO > Mickey Mouse’s dog:

SCAR TISSUE > Scar, the villain (brilliantly voiced by Jeremy Irons) from The Lion King:

STITCH MARKER > Stick from Lilo and Stitch, a film I still need to watch, especially because my partner’s kid loves Stitch:

TRAMPOLINE > Tramp, from Lady and the Tramp :

Connections – Red Herrings

YARN, HOOK, NEEDLES and STITCH MARKER refer to knitting. FABRICATION (as in "fabric") feels like a little misdirect there too.

If you’d like to chat about today’s game of Connections and just about anything else with me and a very lovely group of people, you can do just that in our Discord community . We’d love for you to hang out with us.

I’ll be back with another set of NYT Connections hints and answers tomorrow, as well as another edition of this one, all going well. You’ll be able to find both of those on my Forbes author page when the time comes (following me there helps me out too!). As for the weekend editions of my NYT Connections hints and answers column, I’m currently doing that via my newsletter, Pastimes .