If you’re looking for the September 17 Connections hints and answers, we’ve got you covered right here:

Hey there, Connectors! The weekend is almost upon us. Let’s make sure you get there with your Connections streak intact.

I hope you’ve got some fun plans lined up for this weekend. My partner and I are going for a dinner to celebrate our anniversary. Nothing too elaborate, but the restaurant is a nice place. I’m mostly happy we’ll get to spend some time together.

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 Friday, September 18 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.

  • PILLOW
  • CRUISE
  • UPPER
  • STEP
  • FLIGHT
  • STAIR
  • PLATTER
  • LANDING
  • ROUND
  • STAGE
  • TAKEOFF
  • MEDLEY
  • BRIEF
  • BOARDING
  • SAMPLER
  • PHASE

Today’s NYT Connections Hints

The hints for today’s Connections categories are:

  • 🟨 Yellow group — project points
  • 🟩 Green group — taste testers
  • 🟦 Blue group — we’re on our way
  • 🟪 Purple group — en, show and suit would fit in here

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 — STEP
  • 🟩 Green group — PLATTER
  • 🟦 Blue group — CRUISE
  • 🟪 Purple group — UPPER

Today’s NYT Connections Categories

Today’s Connections groups are...

  • 🟨 Yellow group — segment of a process
  • 🟩 Green group — assortments of food/drink
  • 🟦 Blue group — parts of a flight
  • 🟪 Purple group — ____case

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 — segment of a process (PHASE, ROUND, STAGE, STEP)
  • 🟩 Green group — assortments of food/drink (FLIGHT, MEDLEY, PLATTER, SAMPLER)
  • 🟦 Blue group — parts of a flight (BOARDING, CRUISE, LANDING, TAKEOFF)
  • 🟪 Purple group — ____case (BRIEF, PILLOW, STAIR, UPPER)

I suspected that having FLIGHT on the grid might be a misdirect for the parts of a flight group, indicating that was a red herring. But I had to go for it anyway. Those turned out to be the blues. I do not like how this game give me so much self-doubt.

I then squared away FLIGHT with the greens. What had to be yellows then became clear, so I had to highlight the purples. The category jumped out just before I submitted them. The yellows wrapped up my 565th win on the spin.

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

That’s all from me on the Connections front for now right here. I’ll be back with you for more for and games on Monday. In the meantime, you can read my weekend editions of this column and more of my writing at my newsletter, Pastimes .

P.S. I’ve had this one in my locker for a bit. “Can You Feel My Heart” by Bring Me The Horizon is an emo track with some electronic elements. This is one of my favorites I’ve heard from them so far:

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.