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 via my author page .

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 Tuesday, September 29:

Today’s NYT Connections Answers Explained

Connections – Yellow Group

🟨 secluded (HIDDEN, REMOTE, SECRET, TUCKED AWAY)

These are synonyms used to describe something that’s not in clear view.

Connections – Green Group

🟩 river features (DELTA, DRAINAGE BASIN, MOUTH, STREAM BED)

A DELTA might appear at the MOUTH of a river, where it merges into a larger body of water. It’s named after the triangular shape of the Greek letter, delta (foreshadowing!).

As rivers slow and enter a sea (or some such) they drop the sediment they’re carrying. Over time, this creates landmasses that divide the river:

A DRAINAGE BASIN is an area that a river and its tributaries drain:

A STREAM BED is the bottom of a river that’s hemmed in by the waterway’s banks.

🟦 first words of Pixar movies (FINDING, INSIDE, MONSTERS, TOY)

  • FINDING > Finding Nemo and Finding Dory
  • INSIDE > Inside Out and Inside Out 2
  • MONSTERS > Monsters, Inc and Monsters University
  • TOY > the Toy Story series

I still haven’t watched Toy Story 5 and I should fix that, because I adore those films. I grew up with them!

Connections – Purple Group

🟪 phrases hiding Greek letters (FREEZE TAG, HOME GAME, MODEL TANK, ORAL PHASE)

  • FREEZE TAG > zeta
  • HOME GAME > omega
  • MODEL TANK > delta
  • ORAL PHASE > alpha

This did not click for me at all until I saw the category title.

Connections – Red Herrings

I didn’t see any red herrings this time. Including DELTA as a hint/misdirect (depending on your perspective) for the purples was diabolical, though.

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 .