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 Wednesday, September 16

Today’s NYT Connections Answers Explained

Connections – Yellow Group

🟨 ending in metal elements (LATIN, LONG JOHN SILVER, MARIGOLD, STEAM IRON)

  • LATIN > tin
  • LONG JOHN SILVER > silver
  • MARIGOLD > gold
  • STEAM IRON > iron

Connections – Green Group

🟩 starting with U.S. coins (DIMENSION, NICKELODEON, PENNYWISE, QUARTERBACK)

  • DIMENSION > dime
  • NICKELODEON > nickel
  • PENNYWISE > penny
  • QUARTERBACK > quarter

🟦 poets’ middle names (BARRETT, CARLOS, ST. VINCENT, WADSWORTH)

  • Elizabeth BARRETT Browning
  • William CARLOS Williams
  • Edna ST. VINCENT Millay
  • Henry WADSWORTH Longfellow

Connections – Purple Group

🟪 sausages plus a letter (BORAT, CLINK, FRANK-N-FURTER, WIDENER)

  • BORAT > brat
  • CLINK > link
  • FRANK-N-FURTER > frankfurter
  • WIDENER > wiener

I like the self-referential hint from WIDENER there, since we’re widening these words with an extra letter.

Connections – Red Herrings

The red herring today referred to roles that the late, great actor Tim Curry famously portrayed on screen:

  • FRANK-N-FURTER in The Rocky Horror Picture Show
  • PENNYWISE in It
  • WADSWORTH in Clue
  • LONG JOHN SILVER in Muppet Treasure Island

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 .